{"id":23209,"date":"2025-01-03T06:57:28","date_gmt":"2025-01-03T06:57:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=23209"},"modified":"2025-01-03T06:57:28","modified_gmt":"2025-01-03T06:57:28","slug":"breaking-braves-rotation-among-the-best-in-baseball-per-espn-rankings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=23209","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Braves rotation among the best in baseball, per ESPN rankings"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n

\"Braves<\/p>\n

While Braves fans anxiously await Alex Anthopoulos\u2019 next move, I imagine Atlanta\u2019s GM ponders to himself, \u201cGuys, relax.\u201d<\/p>\n

The club, as currently constructed, is already among the best in baseball. Of course, there have to be additions because there\u2019s just no way Anthopoulos rolls with Michael Harris II as the only returning starter in the outfield from last year.<\/p>\n

The rotation and bullpen could use some TLC as well, but the outfield is the facet in most desperate need of an addition. It seems ESPN\u2019s Bradford Doolittle\u00a0believes the same, at least he doesn\u2019t think anyone should be concerned about the Braves rotation.<\/p>\n

Doolittle ranked each team\u2019s starting rotation, and the Braves ranked 3rd, behind only the Mariners and Phillies. The overall rank was 3rd, which was the composite score of four different criteria \u2014 stars (2nd), depth (16th), length (4th), and dominance (3rd) \u2014 for a rotation index of 111.2.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know when Strider will be back, though the late update indicated that Opening Day was probably out of reach. By the end of the season, however, he and Sale might comprise the best one-two rotation combination of any club entering the playoffs,\u201d Doolittle writes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe depth is held back by cautious innings projections for Strider, but also because there\u2019s a dropoff after the top of the group. Anderson is just a placeholder and an unlikely one despite his name recognition. Others could easily jump over him on the depth chart and raise the ceiling of this group.<\/p>\n

In particular, keep an eye on\u00a0AJ Smith-Shawver\u00a0and\u00a0Hurston Waldrep. Both have work to do in turning potential into production, but the talent is there. The Braves are one team that could stand to bolster its depth from the pool of dangling free agents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Depth concerns are something Braves Country is all too familiar with in recent memory. Even in their World Series campaign, Atlanta was shorthanded going into October, which has been a consistent theme in each postseason to follow.<\/p>\n

The Braves could absolutely use another starter because if trends continue, they\u2019ll once again face injuries to the rotation going into the 2025 playoffs. Hope isn\u2019t a strategy. Alex Anthopoulos can\u2019t hope <\/em>that Chris Sale is healthy for a full season, Reynaldo Lopez isn\u2019t hampered by fatigue, Spencer Schwellenbach is able to pitch a full season\u2019s worth of innings, and Spencer Strider returns to form immediately.<\/p>\n

If everything goes perfectly, the Braves will once again have one of the best rotations in baseball, but very rarely do things go according to plan when it comes to pitchers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While Braves fans anxiously await Alex Anthopoulos’ next move, I imagine Atlanta’s GM ponders to himself, “Guys, relax.” The club, as currently<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":23210,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nBREAKING: Braves rotation among the best in baseball, per ESPN rankings - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=23209\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Braves rotation among the best in baseball, per ESPN rankings - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While Braves fans anxiously await Alex Anthopoulos' next move, I imagine Atlanta's GM ponders to himself, "Guys, relax." 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