3 takeaways from the Braves sensational series sweep over the Marlins

Braves' staff starting to find its groove despite the loss of Strider

Spencer Strider had all the hype coming into the season for this Braves pitching staff, and for good reason.

It's why his season-ending injury was so devastating to Braves Country and why at the time the loss of Strider seemed like it was a bigger deal than it was. Make no mistake, this is a better rotation with Strider in it, but even with him missing, it is still one of the better rotations in baseball and this series against Miami proved it.

The full stat lines for the Braves starters in this series are ridiculous.

First, we started with the triumphant return of Bryce Elder, who looked like his former All-Star self, shutting out the Marlins in 6.2 innings and allowing eight hits while in typical Elder fashion striking out only four.

Then as soon as we thought Elder hurled a masterpiece, Max Fried made us rethink what a masterpiece is, throwing the second complete game shutout with less than 100 pitches and first since himself in 2021. He allowed just three hits in the win and struck out six. This is Max's third career "Maddux" as he trails only Tom Glavine, who has five, and Greg Maddux, who has 10.

Then came the "worst" starting performance of the series, as Reynaldo Lopez only had a seven-inning, three-hit, one-run outing. He is off to a blazing start for the Bravos with a 0.72 ERA over four starts. Lopez currently has the second-best ERA in all of baseball.

Now you may be saying "But this was the Marlins, a very bad offensive baseball team." And you would be right. But let's take a look at two players who aren't having a horrid season at the plate: Luis Arraez (.299 BA, .717 OPS) and Bryan De La Cruz (.262 BA, .725 BA).

Arraez was his typical self, going 7-for-13 with his typical zero extra-base hits. De La Cruz, however, was 2-for-12 with five strikeouts and looked bad at the plate all series.

The moral of the story here is even though the Marlins aren't the best measuring stick for how great your pitching is. The Braves were dominant on the mound this series, something that most Braves fans had serious doubts they could be after Strider went down, even against the Marlins. However, we are starting to see the starting staff settle in.