With their victory on Friday, the Atlanta Braves officially punched their ticket to the playoffs. While that’s certainly an impressive achievement, this marked their eighth postseason appearance in nine years. Getting to the playoffs hasn’t been an issue for the Braves. What sticks out is that they only have one World Series title in those nine years. They hope to add to that this time around.
For them to win a World Series title, they’ll need to answer these questions.
What version of Ronald Acuña Jr. will the Braves get?
When at his best, Ronald Acuña Jr. is one of the best players in the game. He hasn’t had his best season, but he’s been getting hot at the right time, hitting .363 with six home runs and an OPS over 1.000 in his last 20 games. If the Braves can get this version of Acuña when it matters most, they’ll be hard to beat. They haven’t really gotten that, though.
Don’t get me wrong, Acuña hasn’t been bad in the playoffs. An .817 OPS in October is nothing to sneeze at. With that being said, Acuña went just 2-for-14 when last seen in the playoffs, and his career OPS in October is substantially lower than his career .896 OPS. This superstar, who has two 41-home run seasons under his belt, has just three postseason home runs in 128 plate appearances.
Again, if the Braves get the best out of Acuña when the lights are brightest, good luck slowing them down in October. If not, they might be heading home early.
Who is the Braves’ No. 3 starter?
Chris Sale is the clear-cut Game 1 starter, and with how he’s pitched, Tyler Mahle has earned the ball in a Game 2 for the Braves. Unfortunately, they’re going to need more than two starters in the postseason, though, and with Spencer Schwellenbach, Hurston Waldrep and (likely) Spencer Strider all out, there isn’t an easy answer as to who should be the No. 3 starter.
Grant Holmes is probably the favorite, but his struggles when facing hitters for a second time in a game (.885 OPS) as opposed to a first (.574) make him hard to trust to go beyond two or three innings. Martin Perez is another option, but while he has an impressive 3.07 ERA, his 4.25 FIP indicates that regression to the mean is likely coming. Might the Braves roll the dice and start a younger arm like AJ Smith-Shawver or JR Ritchie? Maybe Reynaldo Lopez can return from the IL and play a role.
I have no idea what the Braves are going to do, but as good as Sale and Mahle have been, they can’t do everything, especially in a seven-game series. It’ll be interesting to see how manager Walt Weiss orders his postseason rotation.
How much can the Braves trust Robert Suarez off lengthy IL stint?
A huge reason why the Braves got off to such a strong start is that their bullpen, particularly late in games, was utterly dominant. The Braves could go from Didier Fuentes to Dylan Lee to Robert Suarez to Raisel Iglesias, essentially ending games after the fifth inning. Things haven’t been quite as easy lately, with Lee making only three appearances in September and Suarez being on the Injured List since late June with right elbow inflammation.
Suarez is going to make a rehab appearance on Sunday, giving reason to believe he’ll be ready for the postseason. Having him on the roster figures to be a good thing, but how will Weiss elect to use him? Will Suarez just slide right back into his previously established eighth-inning role? Will the Braves try to avoid using him in high-leverage situations?
The answer probably lies somewhere in the middle. Iglesias is the closer, and Fuentes has pitched his way into being reliable in high-leverage moments. Suarez should be one of the most important relievers in their bullpen, though. Whether Weiss agrees remains to be seen.
What will the Braves get from the bottom of their order?
On paper, the Braves have a deep lineup that should be capable of scoring runs at will. That hasn’t been the case, though, especially of late. Atlanta is just 27th in the majors in runs scored since August 1, and 16th since September 1. Their offense has definitely perked up a bit of late, but only three teams in playoff spots as of this writing have scored fewer runs than them this month. Some of that has to do with the bottom of their order.
Ozzie Albies has a 62 wRC+ since August 1, good for 151st out of 162 qualified position players in that span. Austin Riley has had the worst year of his career, with a .653 OPS and a 32.1 percent strikeout rate. Ha-Seong Kim has given the Braves absolutely nothing offensively all year. Mike Yastrzemski has been hot and cold at best.
Ronald Acuña Jr. has been swinging the bat well, and while guys like Drake Baldwin and Matt Olson have been up-and-down of late, there’s reason to believe they’ll be productive in October. What about the rest of this lineup, though? Albies was an All-Star in the first half – can he get back to that level? Can Austin Riley show glimpses of the player he has been in the past? Can Kim give the Braves anything? Even if the top of the order does its thing, the bottom of the order will need to show up for the Braves to achieve their ultimate goal.
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