8 Braves players who need to step up with Max Fried on the injured list

The rest of the rotation

The team will need Strider, Elder, and Morton to step up and pitch as well as they can to make up for the two rotation spots that will be given to whomever the front office thinks is most capable. Elder has already shown he’s turned a corner this season and has been one of the best pitchers for Atlanta.

Morton has improved in his last three starts with a 2.95 ERA, allowing fourteen hits with 8 walks and twenty strikeouts. We will need Morton to be the top tier starter that we know he can be so the team can have a chance to continue their impressive start. 

The Braves currently hold the best record in the NL and have shown they can handle things without their ace for a couple of weeks but they’ll absolutely need to step up offensively to cover any decrease in output from the pitching side.  

The offense

Of course, getting back Travis d’Arnaud and Orlando Arcia has been a nice boost for the offense as they were big parts of the success early on this season. This will help lengthen that offense and hopefully lead to more success with runners on the base paths and just putting the ball in play. The offense has really had a tough time with striking out and getting runners in from scoring position. They have the 7th most strikeouts in the league with 320 of them so far in 2023.  

With runners in scoring position, the team is 14th in that category with a .768 OPS and .237 average. Those are the two areas they’ve got to improve upon if they want to make things easier on themselves while missing two important pieces of their rotation.  

Although statistically, the Braves have one of the best averages in baseball when playing from behind at a .272 average when trailing. The opposite is true when they are ahead with just a .245 average. So it could be said they need to work on hitting while they have the lead more than anything. 

This is going to be a tough stretch for the Atlanta Braves and they will need to work hard if they wish to maintain the lead they have in the NL East. These are the moments that show just how good a team is and this will give fans the chance to see what the identity of this team is.  

Adversity is a big part of baseball and how you respond to that adversity can make or break you. I believe in this team and think they will be able to push on despite the set backs faced so far this season with injuries.