Red Sox and 3 more MLB teams primed to rebound after slow starts
By Tim Boyle
The Atlanta Braves are primed to rebound after their slow start, too
At 17-21, the Atlanta Braves are just a game better than the Red Sox through 38 games. It’s kind of surprising because it feels a lot more like the Red Sox are buried while the Braves are much closer to turning things around. It could have something to do with the divisions they play in. The American League East has three World Series contenders playing better than the Red Sox. The National League East only has the New York Mets with a winning record.
The Braves have a lot of the same problems as the Red Sox. They’re not hitting much at all. With a relatively similar starting lineup as they had last year, the club hasn’t gotten nearly the same amount of production. Nobody has been especially good. While we can see the Red Sox have several players hitting well over .300, the highest batting average on the Braves for anyone with over 100 plate appearances is catcher Travis d’Arnaud at only .257. Even that comes with just a .286 OBP.
All of the blame shouldn’t fall on the bats. The bullpen has been somewhat flawed with free-agent addition Collin McHugh struggling and the same was happening for Tyler Matzek before he landed on the IL. The starting pitching staff has been okay but nobody is differentiating themselves enough to look like an early Cy Young contender—something you would expect from the best teams in baseball in late May.
The Braves should still get back to .500 and eventually rejoin the playoff picture. It might take them a little longer, though. In 2021, they stumbled on the formula of adding at the trade deadline and the kind of spark it can provide.
Does history repeat itself?