There was a point in time where it looked like the Braves would never get back to the form they held in the 1990’s. 14 straight division titles and the 1995 World series title on the backs of Braves legends like Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Greg Maddux, Chipper and Andruw Jones, Fred Mcgriff and the List goes on for the elite players on the field. And all of these achievements were glued together by front office people like John Schuerholz, Bobby Cox, Terry Mcgurik, and Stan Kasten. The dominance of these Braves’ teams are largely overshadowed by the fact that they only produced 1 world title in the span of those 14 years. But every day for 14 years it was like clockwork. With the voice of Skip Caray in my mind, you could hear it, “The Braves Win.” Then came 2006, the once dominant and postseason regular Braves, they just weren’t the same. 250 losses over the next 3 seasons. And from 2006, It Was 9 years before the Braves could call themselves division champs again. And the Braves thought they had found some footing once again with the now savvy Veterans Chipper Jones and Tim Hudson, and young hot shots like the Upton Brothers, Freddie Freeman, Jeff Francouer, and Jason Hewyard. But that was Short lived following their early 2010 “Resurgence.” Those teams never felt like they had any real shot to do anything special. They always felt like they lacked those 2-3 pieces to finally put the whole picture together to win a Title. And don’t even try to bring up the infield fly debacle in the Wild Card series with the Cardinals in 2012 (My blood still boils to this day.) But then came one of the lowest points in franchise history. The year 2014, the all star break comes and goes and Atlanta is only a half game out of the division lead behind the nationals. And the collapse begins. It was brutal and hard to watch. The season ended and the Braves finished 17 games out of first place. The Braves quickly moved on from General Manager Frank Wren and handed the reins over to a rising star in the Baseball Executive world, John Coppolella. With player contracts running out and a rival in Washington which seemed leaps and bounds ahead of the Atlanta ball club, it felt like Atlanta would be in a cycle of disappointment for a very long while. The Trades began, and the Braves began to sell players to buyers for prospect galore. Atlanta favorite Jason Hewyard was sent off for Pitcher Shelby Miller. Atlanta sent Justin Upton out to Anaheim for a Pitcher named Fried, Max Fried. They continued sending scouts down to Venezuela where they had picked up a young and raw outfielder named Ronald Acuna, and picked up a international contract of the brother of Wilson contreras, named William. The Braves then turned around after the 2015 season and flipped Shelby Miller for a outfielder named Ender Inciarte and first overall pick Dansby Swanson. Inciarte made an immediate impact with the Club, winning gold gloves and being named an NL allstar. The Braves also made a deal with the Rangers to send two pitchers, Brady Fiegl and Tyrell Jenkins in return for a highschool pitching phenomenon named Luke Jackson. The Braves received a draft pick when they traded Closer Craig Kimbrell and picked a young Third Base prospect named Austin Riley. They Also picked up AJ minter, Bryse Wilson, Ian Anderson, and Mike Soroka in the drafts. The Moral of this side story is the Braves traded and drafted well, For a bunch of no name guys who hadn’t proven anything at the professional level. They trusted their gut, pulled the trigger while being ridiculed for it constantly, while being a bottom feeder in the national League. We fast forward to 2018, and these guys start to make their debuts. And the roster in Atlanta immediately felt the impact. They were fast, they were strong defensively, and still had cornerstone pieces like Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis to guide them and lead them. If the first game of the 2018 season was any indication, it was going to be a wild ride for the near future. Down Late to the Phillies the comeback against them was finished off by a bottom of the Ninth bomb from Markakis. And the Braves started hot and the train didn’t seem to stop, the Train kept building steam with high production from guys like Preston Tucker (Brother of Kyle Tucker) and Ryan Flarehty. And that prospect from Venezuela, named Ronald Acuna Jr. made his Debut that April. And 6 straight division titles and a World Series victory in 2021 followed. And we all know the Names on the Roster now. NL M.V.P Ronald Acuna Jr., Silver Sluggers Matt Olson, Austin Riley, and Ozzie Albies, Pitching studs Max Fried and Spencer Strider, All Star Catcher Sean Murphy, Michael Harris and the List goes on. And 2023 didn’t go the way the Braves planned, especially looking back on the embarrassing collapse they had against their Division rival Phillies in the NLDS. I don’t even want to reminisce on that failure after winning 104 games. But 2024 could be the year of returning to the top. The strengths are obvious. This team has been on the mountaintop and they know what it takes. They know how to win. They can do all of the fundamentals well. But with Ron Washington and Eric Young leaving to go Manage and coach in Anaheim do the defensive Braves regress. Will the pitching with Sale, Morton, Shawver, Waldrep be able to fill in the back part of the Braves rotation. Offensively we should see the Braves put up the same if not better numbers, but I think the pitching has some huge question marks. Who is going to step up? Only time will tell. If it falters even a little bit during the first Two months of the season expect Alex Anthopolous to be aggressive in bringing in a quality starter. I think the Braves make the Playoffs, I think they even win the NL East once again, but I am still worried about being too dominant and getting that almost full week off after the regular season ends. They lose rhythm and timing, and not just the Braves but even the Dodgers had the same happen to them Last season. If the Braves have a little adversity during the season I think they can win the World title again, but If the Atlanta ball club sails through the regular season, we should wait and see if they learned from last year's mistakes. And on a side note, the Braves team is fun but they need a Joc Pederson Esque player to bring some Mojo onto the team and have some DAWGS who are willing to step on the neck of their opponents. I’M READY FOR THE 2024 SEASON, ARE YOU? Joshua SuggsJoshua is an Avid lover of all things Nascar, Panthers, Charlotte FC, and the Braves
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