Why the Atlanta Braves will repeat as National League East Champs in 2023

The Atlanta Braves have won the National League East every year since 2018 thanks to a stellar young core of players, savvy moves by the front office led by Alex Anthopoulos, and getting a little bit lucky at times. Five straight division titles is hard for any organization to accomplish, let alone one that has had to deal with the adversity the Braves have had along with some very motivated and spendy teams in their division.

Here is why the Braves will make it six in a row in 2023.

The Atlanta Braves have very few holes to fill for 2023

Other than shortstop (which admittedly is an important spot) and maybe left field, the Braves are pretty set going into the 2023. The Braves have All-Star caliber players under contract at at least six different positions in the field, a rotation full of high-end talent, and a bullpen that is likely to again be one of the best in the league in 2023. Given that short shopping list this offseason, the Braves can focus their efforts and resources knowing that going in, they don’t have to balance too many needs and wants.

The Braves won 101 games last season and they weren’t at full strength

Despite competition from a very game New York Mets squad, the Braves still won 101 games last season (the most regular season wins they have had during this five division title streak) despite a number of setbacks. Ronald Acuna Jr., who is an MVP candidate when healthy, missed the first part of the season recovering from knee surgery and didn’t look like himself, All-Star second baseman Ozzie Albies missed a huge chunk of the season, Matt Olson and Austin Riley slumped at times, Ian Anderson got demoted to Triple-A, and the bullpen had injuries to key arms Tyler Matzek and Luke Jackson.

Despite all of that, they still put up triple digit wins. This roster is built to withstand adversity and when firing on all cylinders, they could be just the best roster top to bottom in the entire league. It is hard not to smile when thinking about the fact that Ronnie, Ozzie, Mike Soroka, and others now get a full, normal offseason to get healthy going into 2023.

The bullpen should again be stellar

Losing Kenley Jansen to free agency isn’t ideal despite the adventure he was at times, but the Braves made a very savvy deal at the trade deadline to acquire Raisel Iglesias who is arguably just better than the current version of Kenley and should slot right in as the Braves’ high leverage reliever of choice in 2023. AJ Minter is criminally underrated as a reliever and projects to be another fantastic late inning choice. Collin McHugh is coming back and provides even more stability along with the potential to be a multiple inning guy if needed. Dylan Lee stepped up in a big way in 2022 as well. There are some wild cards to be sure including what the Braves will get from the newly acquired Dennis Santana, but the Braves have historically done a great job at filling in those last few bullpen slots and with a healthy amount of pitching prospects to potentially try out in the pen, the relief corps should again be very, very good.

Having Max Fried, Spencer Strider, and Kyle Wright in the rotation is a luxury

Most teams would kill to have one pitcher as good as Max Fried, Spencer Strider, and Kyle Wright in their rotations and the Braves have all three. Max seems to have settled in as a perennial Cy Young contender and a leader of the pitching staff. Spencer Strider was very much in contention for the Rookie of the Year title last year and has the potential to be one of the most dominant pitchers in the entire league. Kyle Wright might be the third best pitcher on the staff, but he just threw 180.1 innings during a 3.6 rWAR season while posting a 3.19 ERA in one of the best bounceback seasons you will see from a pitcher. While one hopes that Charlie Morton can find a way to regain his former form and make his extension look a little less suspect, having those three at the front of the rotation hides a lot of crimes.

The Braves’ competitors have a lot of issues to address

The Mets put together a hell of a run in 2022 as they refused to wilt unlike in previous seasons, but they are set to potentially lose a lot of important players in free agency like Brandon Nimmo, Jacob deGrom, and Chris Bassitt. Cohen has deep pockets, but it isn’t like there isn’t competition to sign those guys or the guys that would be net positives for their roster especially on the offensive end. The Phillies had a fun run to the World Series and have some really good arms in their rotation, but they have a lineup full of guys that should probably be DHing and Bryce Harper, their best player, is about to go under the knife to repair his UCL. The Marlins have some young talent, but cannot spend to bolster their ranks and seem another year or two away at least. The Nationals seem like they could be really bad for a while after their teardown.

The Braves are just built to win in modern baseball

To win in this day and age, you need a strong bullpen, power arms, and the ability to hit for power and the Braves have all three in spades. Again, they have at least six guys in their lineup that can/will hit 20+ home runs in a given season, a rotation full-loaded with studs, and a proven ability to field a top notch bullpen every season. Sure, some teams can get away for a season or two slapping the ball around and getting exceptional seasons from groundball pitchers, but the recipe for success is what the Atlanta Braves have been built around.

After the free agency free-for-all ends, there should be more clarity to this debate. However, when it is all said and done, it is hard to see a world where the Braves aren’t favored to win the NL East again in 2023.