Atlanta Braves fans are well-aware of how the 2024 season went. Nearly every month of the season saw an important player go down with some sort of catastrophic injury. The Braves somehow managed to make it to the playoffs against all odds, but the team that finished the season looked decidedly not like the Atlanta teams that fans have grown accustomed to.
The good news is that both Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuna Jr. will be returning next season. Strider had to have elbow surgery after a rogue bone fragment caused him some issues while Acuna Jr. missed most of the season after requiring knee surgery. Given that both players rank among the best players in baseball when they are healthy, getting both of them back is going to be a massive boost.
Of course, there is a bit of a problem here. Both Strider and Acuna Jr. are likely to miss the first month of the 2025 season while they rehab. Given the strength of the Braves' early schedule, this could prove to be a major issue for Atlanta's chances next season.
Spencer Strider, White Castle Special. 🤮🍔🍔🍔 pic.twitter.com/D7kNYOfeqN
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 29, 2024
Braves' early 2025 schedule set to be a major obstacle with both Strider and Acuna Jr. out
The first month of so of the season is a relatively small sample of games and if both Strider and Acuna Jr. come back strong, the Braves are likely to be fine next season. However, they could easily find themselves in an early hole to dig out next season given their absence and the fact that their first few weeks of games are absolutely brutal.
Atlanta starts the 2025 season with a west coast road trip including four games against the Padres and a three-game set against the Dodgers. Not a promising way to begin the season. Early series against the Marlins, Rays, and Cardinals are a bit of a reprieve, but the rest of the first month of the season includes a home series against the Phillies who are always tough as well as fringe contenders in the Twins and Diamondbacks.
With Acuna Jr. and Strider out, it would not be all that shocking to see the Braves enter the month of May (where another series against the Dodgers looms) below .500. If Atlanta plays well and does better than that, it will bode extremely well for their chances the rest of the season. If they struggle like they easily could with two of their best players out, it could make winning the NL East when the dust settles all the more difficult.