Atlanta Braves: 4 Factors Alex Anthopoulos faces in replacing Mike Soroka

4. Can the Braves stay on top of the NL East?

Trade ‘sellers’ haven’t really been established yet.  Sure:  there will be some obvious teams like Pittsburgh, Kansas City, and Seattle; but it’s still a bit early.

The Braves are in first place now (depending on how you view the Marlins’ 3-1 record vs. Philly and Baltimore), but they will have to hold on during this month to prove that they belong… even as they try to figure out how to get through innings 4-7 on a nightly basis.

For the most part, they’ve been able to out-slug the competition — so long as Jacob deGrom isn’t pitching.  That may end up being a theme of this Summer’s action from this point forward.

If they can, then sure: make a deal to bring in a big arm, for the September schedule is highly in the favor of the Braves and they should be able to put the division on ice at that point.

In the meantime, they just have to push through and make something work.

3. Is there real hope that Cole Hamels will be able to pitch?

Here’s the rub.  Let’s say that the Braves make the playoffs (which is still much more likely than not).  To have a realistic shot at advancing, they will almost certainly need three solid starting pitchers.

Max Fried is one of these.  Hamels could be a second.  If that’s so, then Atlanta only needs one more to cobble together enough arms to compete well in October.  That’s one trade… still hard to muster, but doable.

If Hamels proves to be unavailable, though, the equation changes dramatically and the Braves simply may not be able to match up against other teams in the playoffs… unless all other opponents also happen to be “pitching-compromised”.

With limited inventory, trading for one starting pitcher is going to be difficult enough.  Getting two… nigh impossible.

Hamels will be eligible to return to play during the first week of September, though the Braves should know before the August 31 trade deadline about whether he will be able to pitch or not.

As it is, Atlanta needs innings out of Hamels more than necessarily needing him to be the $18 million ace-like performer that he’s shown in his past.  This is a case of where an 85% Hamels would be good enough.  There’s just no way to know today whether he can get there.

So the decision point will be this:  do the Braves make “that deal” with Hamels still in a state of health limbo?