Despite the Atlanta Braves dropping a series in Toronto recently, the team is off to a red-hot start building a huge division lead and clearly setting the tone for the National League. While the team has clear depth and injury concerns come October for now, it is completely reasonable to say this is the best team in the league.
Atlanta is accomplishing all of this without Max Fried or Kyle Wright and with clear injury and production concerns from the outfield and shortstop. A dismal start from Ozuna and slow starts at the plate for Matt Olsen and Austin Riley have done little to slow their torrid pace.
This speaks to what a great team Atlanta is and how elite their best players have been to start the season. Getting surprise starting pitching production and consistent clutch hitting has helped Atlanta continue to pile up the wins and maintain a large division lead. One that has multiple Braves in early discussions for 2023 awards starting with the biggest reason Atlanta is in this position.