The Braves are officially a week away from Opening Day, meaning it’s time for part two of my bold predictions series for the 2024 campaign. If you missed the first part of the series, follow the link below.
Another Braves Franchise Record Broken
The Braves offense essentially set a new franchise record for every category last year. They also tied the MLB record for most homers in a season with 307 and became the first to ever slug over .500 as a team. Ronald Acuña made history of his own as well, becoming the first player to hit 40 home runs and swipe 70 bags.
Beyond that, there were a plethora of individual franchise records topped, including John Smoltz’s single season strikeout record, which was broken by Spencer Strider, and Andruw Jones’ single season home run record, which was smashed by Matt Olson. With so much talent in the Braves clubhouse, we’re bound to see more records fall in 2024.
The one the Braves had a chance at last year but fell just short is the franchise record for wins. With the division in hand, they let their foot off the gas a bit, ending with 104 wins, two shy of the 1998 Braves, who won 106 games.
Brian Snitker isn’t going to be worried about chasing records at the end of the season. If the Braves have locked up the division by mid-September again, he’ll likely give guys some rest, especially pitchers, heading into October.
But the way I see it, this is the best Braves roster ever put together. The entire historic lineup returns from a year ago, with the only change occurring in left field, where they upgraded. Jarred Kelenic and Adam Duvall are undoubtedly a better platoon than Eddie Rosario and Kevin Pillar.
The real upgrades occurred to the pitching staff, though. This is a rotation that missed Kyle Wright for basically all of last year and got less than half a season out of Max Fried. Now, they have a healthy Fried, Spencer Strider, Charlie Morton, along with the newly added Reynaldo Lopez and Chris Sale. They also have about 5-6 MLB-ready pitchers waiting in the wings, and their bullpen has been bolstered significantly.
If the Braves pitching staff just stays relatively healthy, they should have 100 wins by mid-September. At that point, they could go under .500 and still break the franchise record for wins. But simply just breaking the franchise record for wins isn’t bold enough for this group. The 2024 Braves are going to smash it by winning more than 110 games, clearing everybody in the division by at least 18 games.
Is that bold enough?
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Photo: John Adams/Icon Sportswire
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