3 Players the Atlanta Braves Need to Stay Hot to Win World Series
Here are three vital Atlanta Braves players who NEED to stay hot for the Braves to win the World Series in 2023.
3. Atlanta Braves Player Who Needs to Stay Hot: Marcell Ozuna
Marcell Ozuna is second in all of baseball in fWAR over the past 14 days. He has five homers and 16 RBI over that time to go with a slash of .442/.500/.885. During that time, Ronald Acuna Jr., Matt Olson, and Austin Riley make up the other top offensive fWAR leaders on the Braves behind Ozuna. Here's a look at how his production has dwarfed their performances.
Ozuna fWAR (past 14 days): 1.2
Riley, Acuna, & Olson Combined fWAR (past 14 days): 1.3
Starting on August 4th, Ozuna began an impressive 16-game hit streak. Since August 4th, he's only gone hitless in one game. He has homered in three straight games. This is already the third-most homers Ozuna has ever hit in a season with 28. He's one away from tying his second-best of 29, set in 2019 with the Cardinals. His best homerun season came in 2017 when he blasted 37 round-trippers with Miami. If he stays hot, he could challenge that.
Ozuna has been a notably streaky player over his 11 major league seasons. We have covered Ozuna as both a key to winning the World Series and as one of the players the Braves need to worry about as we head toward the postseason. As good as we think Ozuna's been SINCE April, he was conspicuously absent from our Top 10 Atlanta Braves Players in July list.
Ozuna is being depended upon as a middle-of-the-order bat right now for the juggernaut of an offense. He has been routinely plugged into the fifth spot behind Matt Olson. As the Braves hit the postseason, it will be extremely important that Ozuna keeps swinging a hot bat.
2. Atlanta Braves Player Who Needs to Stay Hot: Bryce Elder
Bryce Elder had one of the best first halves of the year. He got the nod to his first All-Star game and repeatedly shut opposing teams down despite not striking anyone out. We worry about Bryce Elder because of his underlying metrics. We've covered all the blue on his Baseball Savant page before. We've discussed how, in 2022, there was only one pitcher in the top 30 in ERA that had a lower K/9 than Elder. Striking out five guys per nine doesn't work at an elite level in today's game.
This is why we have expressed concern over Elder's ability to continue his dominance. The other shoe dropped in the second half. He has a good ERA on the season right now at 3.39, but between July 9th and August 10, Elder was terrible.
During that six-game stretch, he gave up 25 earned runs (29 total) in just 28.1 innings pitched. He allowed six homers and opponents posted an .872 OPS against the young right-hander.
Elder is getting hot again and hopefully, it is here to stay. He has allowed just one run over the past two starts. Both of those starts were against both of the scuffling New York teams.
Why do the Braves need Elder to stay hot?
There is more uncertainty in the rotation than the Braves want to deal with heading into the postseason. Kyle Wright is working his way back and we don't know how he's going to look yet. The Braves currently have a black hole in the fifth spot of the rotation.
The Braves need Elder to stay hot and provide stability to the rotation for the remainder of the season. If Wright isn't ready, the Braves may be forced to turn to Elder for some solid outings in a seven-game series.
If someone gets injured, the Braves need the good Elder and not the bad one. He needs to stay hot.
And of course, that brings us to our top player who needs to stay hot... on the next page.
1. Atlanta Braves Player Who Needs to Stay Hot: Charlie Morton
Charlie Morton has been shaky at times since joining Atlanta. He had a pretty rough first half of the year last season. Despite a decent ERA this year, his K rates and walk rates have been heading in the wrong direction. He's closing in on 40 years old and has been prone to cold streaks.
Right now, we aren't too worried about any of that, are we? Morton has been on fire the past few starts. Over the past three starts, Morton has lowered his ERA from 3.86 to 3.37 by pitching 18.0 scoreless innings. Over that time, he has struck out 25 hitters and allowed just nine hits. After walking seven three starts ago against the Mets (still in a scoreless outing), he has allowed just two free passes over his past two starts.
This has come as a great relief since the fours starts prior to the three referenced above, were the polar opposite. In those four starts, he posted a 7.32 ERA with 15 walks in 19 innings!
Why do we need Charlie Morton to stay hot for the postseason? Because you need all the starting pitching you can get in the playoffs. Charlie is going to be one of our big three. If Max loses a game, Strider and Morton need to be there to pick him up. The offense will be facing the best teams, the best rotations, and the best pitchers of those rotations.
We all know how important starting pitching is in the postseason, and the Braves need Morton at his best behind Strider and Fried.
Read: 4 Reasons the Braves Will Win the World Series in 2023
Also Read: 5 Reasons the Braves Won't Win the World Series in 2023