2 former Braves failing miserably and 1 thriving on their new teams

The Atlanta Braves have been hot to start the 2023 season but two former players who left before 2023 have struggled on new teams, but one has thrived.

What the Atlanta Braves could lose and, eventually, the stars they did see leave in free agency has been a massive topic of discussion over the past two offseasons. Prior to the 2022 season, it was Freddie Freeman who departed to sign a monster deal with the Dodgers. Then it was almost a repeat of that this past offseason as Dansby Swanson eventually inked a huge contract with the Cubs.

Of course, that hasn’t stopped the Braves. Atlanta has been on fire in the early parts of the 2023 season, with a recent loss to the Padres on Wednesday “dropping” them to 14-5 on the year.

The club has done that without Swanson on the roster and with several other players that could’ve played roles for Atlanta no longer in the organization either. But some of the guys who left the Braves have had a difficult time finding success on their new teams, though one player in particular has been thriving in his new home.

Let’s take a look at these former Braves and what they’ve done early with their new clubs.

Former Braves P Kyle Muller has been a disaster with the A’s

While the aforementioned Murphy has been swinging a flamethrower for Atlanta over the past couple of weeks (give or take), the pieces that were sent to Oakland in that deal haven’t made much noise at all. The most frequently used player involved in that trade to this point has been pitcher Kyle Muller and, frankly, the results have been horrendous.

Muller has made four starts for the A’s to start the year and the results have been awful. Muller has averaged just over 4.1 innings per start while posting a 7.23 ERA and 1.98 WHIP. Moreover, he’s also walked nine batters while striking out just 14. Perhaps the only thing that’s not awful for him thus far is that he’s accrued just one loss, even though he hasn’t registered a win.

Perhaps even more concerning is that Muller has gotten worse with each start. After going 10.2 innings with only three earned runs and eight hits combined allowed in his first two starts, his last two outings have resulted in a combined 20 hits, five walks and 12 earned runs. No wonder the Athletics are a miserable 3-16 to start the year.

Admittedly, Muller was bad for the Braves last year in limited work, posting an 8.03 ERA and 1.70 WHIP over three starts. But after a promising 2021 debut in the majors, the now-25-year-old has not been the asset the A’s hoped they were getting in the Murphy trade with Atlanta.