The Atlanta Braves spent the 162 game series utilizing the entire 40-man roster and then some. Their depth was a key reason for their success in 2023. However, we have now reached October, meaning only the top talents and the best matchups will make the roster.
Finally, after five days without meaningful baseball the Braves are set to play the Phillies tonight at Truist Park in game one of the NLDS. Now, we have the official 26-man NLDS roster. There are a couple surprises that we will touch on in this article, but follow along as we breakdown the entire squad the 2023 Braves will roll with in the NLDS.
Starting Pitchers (4)
Spencer Strider, Max Fried, Bryce Elder, AJ Smith-Shawver
Leading up to this series, all eyes were on Max Fried as he was nursing a hot-spot on his finger. The Braves were ultra cautious with Fried and Atlanta fans finally had their minds at ease yesterday when the team announced him as the game 2 starter.
The other question with this was how the Braves will attack game 3. Elder has long been regarded as the expectation, but that may very well depend on how the first two games play out.
The decision to carry rookie AJ Smith-Shawver allows the Braves to go a variety of directions. He has really been impressing people in camp recently, and as we know power pitching is a hot commodity this time of year. Don’t rule out the rookie getting a big assignment in this series.