For the first time in seven seasons, the Atlanta Braves were not crowned the champions of the National League East in 2024. Atlanta still snuck into the playoffs as a Wild Card but fell to the San Diego Padres without putting up much of a fight.
Most organizations would identify a winning record in the regular season and a playoff appearance as success. The Braves, however, expect to compete for a World Series title on a yearly basis. The focus for Atlanta this offseason has been to get their stars healthy while making limited external moves (like adding outfielder Jurickson Profar). Alex Anthopoulos believes this is the recipe for success in 2025. As Atlanta looks to return to their winning ways, let's take a look at news circulating around Brian Snitker's club.
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Braves news: Starting rotation battle heats up at spring training
This winter, the Braves watched two familiar faces leave their rotation, as starting pitchers Max Fried and Charlie Morton found new homes on the free-agent market. In addition to the two holes that these veterans left, flame-throwing righty Spencer Strider will not be ready for Opening Day as he completes his rehab from elbow surgery.
Right now that leaves four starters who are more or less locked into the rotation: Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez, Spencer Schwellenbach and Grant Holmes. The last spot is still up for grabs, and there is also a possibility that Holmes or even Lopez could give way to another arm in lieu of a flexible role out of the bullpen.
There are currently three pitchers in the Braves organization that could be a logical fit for the fifth starting spot. Ian Anderson, Bryce Elder and AJ Smith-Shawver all have experience starting games at the big-league level. Knowing how the Braves operate, the fifth spot in the rotation may even be platooned between these three as they are all used to bouncing around from the Minors to the Majors.
Braves news: Hurston Waldrep adding to his repertoire
Waldrep was drafted by the Atlanta Braves with the 24th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. The righty remains one of the Braves' top prospects, and appears to be inching closer to finding a home with the big-league club this season after a rough debut in 2024.
Waldrep does have limited experience at the Major League level. He made two starts last year but struggled mightily, and he's surely hoping that his next go-round is a bit more permanent. One adjustment Waldrep is making this spring to try and bring that to fruition, per Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution? Coming back to a pitch he actually took out of his repertoire: his curveball.
To have something to play off of his trademark splitter, Waldrep started throwing a slider rather than a curveball last season. Now, he is focusing on bringing the curveball back, and he's already sounding confident in it. Waldrep says the curveball gives him a weapon to get hitters out from both sides of the plate.
"Adding the curveball back just kind of gives me a little better tool to lefties," Waldrep said. "It fits my fastball really well out of my arm slot, and it just kind of made sense to bring it back.”
This one simple adjustment very well could help Waldrep reach his expected potential.
Braves news: Sean Murphy looking for redemption after rough 2024
Murphy suffered an injury in the opening series of 2024. He missed an extended amount of time and never really could get in a rhythm after that, slashing a woeful .193/.284/.352 in just 72 games. His now-former teammate Travis d'Arnaud made the most of this situation and performed well enough to take the No. 1 spot on the depth chart, even once Murphy was off the IL.
Now that d'Arnuad is reunited with Ron Washington on the Los Angeles Angels, Murphy will be getting the majority of the starts behind the plate for the Braves. By simply getting more playing time, Murphy feels that this will allow him to be more comfortable and be able to perform at a much higher level than a season ago.
“It stinks losing Travis, because Travis was a good friend of mine and we’re going to miss him,” Murphy told Mark Bowman of MLB.com. “But the silver lining is I might get to play some more, and I prefer playing [consistently].”
If Murphy can return to his pre-2024 form, it would lengthen Atlanta's lineup considerably and solidify it as one of the very best in baseball.