After a strong start to the year, the Atlanta Braves, having been bogged down by injury after injury, are coming off a series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers and a devastating sweep in Toronto, among other things. Though they are first in a somewhat mediocre NL East, took two of three games against both the Rangers and Mariners, and have the fifth-best record in Major League Baseball, the toll of having players like Max Fried and Kyle Wright on the IR for extended periods of time.
As June approaches, here are three players who will play critical roles for the Atlanta Braves in the coming month
1. Bryce Elder
One shouldn’t be too surprised seeing Elder perform the way he is. Though struggling in his few appearances last year, he showed flashes of brilliance, throwing a complete game shutout against the Nationals (for example). Despite being optioned to Gwinnett before the beginning of the season, Elder’s time in the majors, despite what the numbers say, is nothing short of impressive, leading the NL in ERA. While he’s not the flashiest pitcher, he gets the job done. And that is exactly what Atlanta needs right now, is someone who gets the job done.
2. Spencer Strider
With some of the offense flaking, it feels obvious to state that pitching is going to be essential in the coming month. Spencer Strider leads the MLB in strikeouts at 97. In his most recent appearance, he struck out the powerful L.A. lineup 11 times. Though the result of the Dodgers game wasn’t his fault (he gave up two earned runs), the numbers indicate a little problem. In the month of May, Strider had a 4.23 ERA as compared to his 1.80 ERA in April. I don’t want to blame things on the schedule, but when playing teams like Toronto, L.A. (Dodgers), and Texas, it makes sense that teams with loaded lineups prove to be harder to face. Looking at his performances against these teams further proves my (rather obvious) point. If Strider can lower his ERA and maintain his consistent strikeout rate, then June will prove to be successful for Atlanta.
3. Austin Riley
In trying to pick my number three, I struggled between a couple of players. I thought to myself, “…Who is already doing well and who needs to do better?” This is not to say the offense is bad by any means. They have the second best SLG and OPS in MLB. However, there are some players who:
- Need to pick up the pace
- Need to continue their hot streak
Which is why I’m going with Austin Riley. Despite a streaky start to the year, Riley’s still carrying his weight, hitting a total combined 900 feet worth of home runs recently against the Phillies. While not back at MVP form yet, there’s still time to improve. Riley’s back in the cleanup spot on the lineup, and hopefully Thursday night’s performance is a preview of what is to come.
One Concern:
While the performance of these players will determine how well Atlanta does in June, the overall concern, to me at least, lies with the bullpen. Some performances in the offense also cause some concern, but when leads are blown, then that’s on the bullpen.
Despite being lauded as baseball’s best last year (with good reason!), something’s been off all year. Especially with A.J. Minter. The aforementioned injuries to the starting rotation do not help. Atlanta finally has five pitchers in the starting rotation. Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd aren’t terrible options, so hopefully the bullpen won’t be exhausted as starting pitchers.
I have hope that the bullpen will have a “come to Jesus” moment in the near future, but what they need now is support, whether it is from the front office (a certain Michael Soroka is making noise in Gwinnett…) or from the offense. I don’t want to sound the alarm just yet, because the Braves aren’t in that spot. June, on paper, looks easy for Atlanta, with them playing in Oakland, Colorado, Washington, etc. This should be their time to reset. However, as the saying goes, “it ain’t over till it’s over.”