The Atlanta Braves had a great offseason, and that has shown with a great start to the season. However, there are a couple of areas they could still have improved with some additional moves.
The main thing Atlanta should have worked on is adding more quality pitchers to the roster. The rotation has been decent despite some injuries to key arms early on. But the bullpen could use a little more stability right now.
Let's examine a few moves the Braves could have made to make their lives a bit easier this season.
Here are 3 moves the Braves could have made to make their lives easier in 2026
Dylan Cease
Cease would have been a massive get for the Braves this offseason. He's a Georgia native, and it's hard not to think about what could have been. The powerful righty has been a force for the Blue Jays this season. Cease has a 3.05 ERA over 62 innings (11 starts) with 26 walks and 92 strikeouts (leads MLB).
He has excelled in almost every metric, except for chase rate, walk rate, and extension. With Atlanta's need for an ace in the next couple of years, it would have been nice to have someone like Cease waiting in the wings. However, he did exit his most recent start with a hamstring injury, which wouldn't have helped the Braves much, so maybe this was for the best.
Hoby Milner
Milner could have given the Braves another quality left-handed pitcher in their bullpen. It's easy to understand why they didn't consider adding another southpaw. However, it seems like a mistake with the absolute travesty that Aaron Bummer became.
Milner has been good for the Cubs this season, with a 1.93 ERA over 23.1 innings. He doesn't induce a lot of chase, but he excels in limiting hard contact and doesn't issue many walks. A lot of that comes from his unique arm angle.
Nathan Eovaldi
Eovaldi was rumored to be on Atlanta's radar this past offseason. However, the 36-year-old righty landed back with the Rangers in 2026. He's been impressive with a 3.65 ERA over 61.2 innings, with 14 walks and 61 strikeouts.
Eovaldi would have been a welcome addition to Atlanta's rotation right now. Eovaldi is in the top percentile among all big league pitchers in chase, whiff, walk, and groundball percentages. The only areas of true concern lie with his inability to limit hard contact and barrels.
While it's easy to look back at Atlanta's offseason and see the shortcomings, it just speaks to how good this team is. Despite a few missing pieces, the Braves still hold the best record in baseball and a commanding lead in the NL East.
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