Five Reasons Atlanta Braves Will Still Win NL East in 2021

5. Impact Players to be Added in August

The Atlanta Braves needed help on offense prior to Acuna’s injury on July 10. The lineup had a conspicuous drop-off after the first three hitters. Players like Austin Riley and Dansby Swanson have done what they could, but the hole created by the losses of Ozuna and d’Arnaud was turned into a crater when Acuna went down.

Even before Acuna’s injury, the Braves were still only 11th in the league in total runs scored and 15th in team batting average.

The Braves need a boost in order to compete. They still have the core bats in place to have a top-notch offense. For that to come to fruition, they need that supporting cast. Freddie Freeman and Ozzie Albies cannot carry this offense on their own.

Following Acuna’s injury, speculation began to increase that the Braves would be seller’s at the trade deadline as all hope was seemingly lost.

Alex Anthopoulos let the world know that the Braves were buyers when he completed a deal for Cubs OF Joc Pederson, just days after Acuna’s injury.

Anthopoulos followed that move up by bringing in former All-Star catcher, Stephen Vogt from the Arizona Diamondbacks to add some stability to an unstable catching situation. Vogt and Kevan Smith should hold things down until the return of Travis d’Arnaud.

Impact Bat: Travis d’Arnaud

Travis d’Arnaud was a huge piece of the 2020 run-scoring machine. He found himself entrenched as the cleanup hitter on one of the best offenses in baseball.

Last season, d’Arnaud hit .321 with a .919 OPS. Last year was shortened due to COVID and TDA only played in 44 games. The previous year he played in 92 games with the Tampa Bay Rays, one game with the Dodgers, and 10 games with the New York Mets.

Between the two seasons, d’Arnaud has posted the following stats:

147 Games, 516 ABs, 71 R, 24 2B, 25 HR, 103 RBI, 48 BB, 135 SO, .273/.336/.465.

To get that sort of production from any position, let alone a catcher, would be a huge boost to the offense.

Impact Arm: Huascar Ynoa

Not only is d’Arnaud working toward an August return, but Huascar Ynoa appears to be heading in the right direction.

Ynoa was having a surprising breakout season as a starting pitcher. The 23-year-old owns a 3.02 ERA with a 4-2 record on the season. He is sitting on 50 strikeouts in 44.2 innings pitched with a 1.05 WHIP.

Getting both of these guys back for the last month or two of the season will make a massive impact on top of any additional trades that Anthopoulos pulls off.