Everything seems to be going the Atlanta Braves' way at the moment. As of Monday, they sit at 15-7 and have won five straight games heading into a tough road series against the Nationals. While having a five-game lead in the division doesn't really matter in the middle of April, it certainly doesn't hurt the Braves' cause.
For the moment, actual roster movement has been relatively sparse with the Braves on the road. That will change once Spencer Strider and Sean Murphy return, but here is what is going on with Atlanta coming out of the weekend in the meantime.
Braves News: Atlanta completes sweep of division rival Phillies as Braves pull away early
It is never a bad time to sweep a hated division rival, and the Braves completely outclassed Philly across three games, outscoring them 16-3. The series finale may have been the sweetest victory of them all as Grant Holmes overcame an early home run to pitch into the fifth inning and gave the Braves a chance to rally.
While the offense understandably is getting a lot of praise for their work in the series, with all of the meaningful contributions from throughout their lineup, how about this Atlanta pitching staff?! Across 27 innings of work, Braves pitchers struck out 22 batters and gave up just three runs on 17 hits. The defense had some big moments to be sure, but Atlanta's arms came up huge when the team needed them to.
Braves News: Chris Sale just passed Tom Glavine on the all-time strikeout list
Chris Sale's ascendance up the all-time strikeout leaderboard is quickly becoming a very fun storyline this season. Sale had already forced his way into the top 30 all-time, and now he has successfully overtaken a Braves legend in the rankings.
With his seven strong innings against the Phillies on Saturday night, Sale passed Hall of Famer Tom Glavine to move into 29th on the all-time strikeout leaderboard and has the eighth-most among lefties in baseball history. Chuck Finley is the next name to pass, which should happen during Sale's next start, with David Cone up almost 60 strikeouts later.
Braves News: Atlanta surges to the top of MLB power rankings
It took a little while to convert the nonbelievers; it appears as though MLB writers and experts are coming around to the idea that the Braves are a really good baseball team again. A certain amount of skepticism was warranted, given how the last couple of years have gone and all of the injury questions, but everyone seems to be coming around now.
Not only did the Braves ascend to the No. 2 spot on the FanSided MLB power rankings, but MLB.com also put them in the second spot behind the Dodgers, and ESPN placed them third. Power rankings are just thought exercises that mean nothing this early in the season, but it is still fun to see experts giving Atlanta credit where it is due.
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