The Braves 2023 club, which was the best team in baseball for most of the season, ran into a buzzsaw in the NLDS for the second consecutive season. Many will call it a choke job, but the reality is the Phillies are as well constructed of a team as any in baseball, and they are playing their best at the right time.
The Braves had a team good enough to win the World Series. You don’t win 104 games and break record after record without an ultra-talented bunch, but there are additions to be made that can make them even better prepared for October next year. That will be Alex Anthopoulos’ job this offseason, and while Braves fans may still be in a bit of pain for now, that eventually will wane as the focus shifts to the 2024 campaign.
For the players, it has already begun.
Ronald Acuña Jr. took to Twitter to send Braves Country a message, signing off on his historical 2023 season in which he became the first player in MLB history to hit 40 homers and swipe 70 bags. It’s an achievement that should not get lost in a year that ultimately ended in disappointment, but Acuña is only going to let that disappointment fuel him, saying, “Next year, it will end different.”
THANK YOU EVERYBODY. THANK YOU TO MY COACHES AND TEAMMATES. THANK YOU BRAVES COUNTRY THE BEST FANS IN THE WORLD. THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THE SAME ENERGY. EVERY DAY. NO MATTER WHAT.
THIS YEAR , I WILL NEVER FORGET.
NEXT YEAR, IT WILL END DIFFERENT.
NOS VEMOS PRONTO … 🦍🦍🦍🦍 pic.twitter.com/QGjGkIroff— Ronald Acuña Jr. (@ronaldacunajr24) October 17, 2023
Acuña didn’t have the postseason he envisioned after a regular season that will almost certainly end with an MVP award, but he’ll only be 26-years-old next year. It’s only a matter of time before his moment comes in October. Acuña — and this team — are way too talented not to figure it out in the postseason. When that happens, the entire baseball world will be a witness to perhaps the most talented offensive player of the new generation.
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Photographer: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
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