The Atlanta Braves are in one of the worst spots in the entire league right now and it doesn't have much to do with their roster construction. On paper, the Braves are loaded with talent, but once you dig a little deeper, things begin to fall apart.
First of all, Atlanta's two best players, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Spencer Strider, are still recovering from injuries. Beyond that, starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez is set to miss a long period of time after the team announced he would undergo arthroscopic shoulder surgery to determine the extent of his arm injury. Offseason addition Jurickson Profar was recently suspended for 80 games after failing a drug test for PEDs.
Atlanta lost two of their top pitchers during the offseason, too. Max Fried signed a deal with the New York Yankees and has since looked to continue his big league dominance in the American League. While the Braves likely wouldn't have touched him at the $200+ million price tag the Yankees paid him, it's still a crushing loss. They also lost Charlie Morton as the aging veteran signed a one-year, $15 million deal with the Baltimore Orioles. With each Morton start, this is looking more and more like the Braves dodged a bullet by losing him.
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Braves dodge bullet after seeing rough Charlie Morton start to season
Morton is near the top of Baltimore's pitching staff but he certainly hasn't pitched like it this season. Through two starts, the righty holds a 9.72 ERA in 8.1 innings pitched. He's surrendered 13 hits and nine earned runs in this short time while being handed the loss in both starts.
While a lot of experts predicted a fall from grace for the 41-year-old righty, this kind of drop off feels much worse than anybody expected. The Braves likely expected Morton to take a step back compared to last season which is why they let him walk in favor of AJ Smith-Shawver.
With Lopez out, it might look like a bad move to have given up on Morton, but the righty's first two starts show that the Braves dodged a serious bullet by not giving the 41-year-old a $15 million deal.