MLB Standings ordered by ERA: Braves' pitchers have been carrying heavy load in 2024

By this point, Atlanta Braves fans are well aware that the Braves' offense in 2024 has been, at best, inconsistent. Some of that has been due to injuries to guys like Ronald Acuna Jr., Sean Murphy, and Austin Riley that have slowed the offense down, but a lot of it has been due to just good ol' fashioned underperformance up and down the lineup. Despite the offense that broke records last season being just 13th in all of baseball by fWAR in 2024, their pitching staff has really stepped up to keep Atlanta in the running.

It is hard to overstate just how important (and surprising) the Braves' pitching staff has been this season. Despite making some pretty speculative moves like signing Reynaldo Lopez and promptly converting him from a reliever to one of the league's best starters this season as well as their biggest trade of last offseason to acquire Chris Sale who was coming off an injury-plagued tenure in Boston.

Those moves paid off in a big way and even without Spencer Strider in the fold, it is the Braves' arms that have carrying the team in 2024 and keeps Atlanta dangerous especially if the offense really gets going again.

MLB Standings ordered by ERA: Atlanta's pitching staff has been among the league's best

ERA isn't a perfect measure by any means, but it does tell us a good bit about a team's ability to prevent runs even if the "whys" can vary from team to team. In this case, Atlanta's pitching staff ranks in the top eight in team ERA in 2024. The starters rank a bit lower thanks to some less than stellar showings from guys like Allan Winans, Ray Kerr, Hurston Waldrep, and Bryce Elder, but the third-ranked Braves bullpen has helped to offset that a good bit.

Unsurprisingly, each of the division leaders in baseball right now all rank in the top 10 in team ERA at the moment. Assuming the Braves' pitching staff can keep this up or even get better, that bodes extremely well if the Atlanta's bats can at least resemble the production they put up in 2023. However, that MAY not be enough to chase down the Phillies in the NL East, but more on that in a little bit.

Also, the Rockies are incredibly embarrassing in these rankings. We knew the Angels weren't going to throw the ball well especially after losing Shohei Ohtani and basically all of the Marlins' starters are hurt, but that Colorado is the worst by such a wide margin is a pretty scathing indictment of that front office and a clear illustration that playing half of one's games at Coors Field is pretty brutal.

NL East Standings ordered by ERA: Phillies confirmed to be Braves' biggest problem

As for the division picture, the tall task in front of the Braves is very clear. Not only has the Phillies offense been among the best in the league in 2024, but their pitching staff has been the best in MLB by basically every measure that matters from ERA to WAR to FIP. When a team is among the best on both sides of the ball, that is going to lead to a lot of wins and make them extremely tough.

Even if Atlanta's offense hadn't crapped the bed for basically the entire month of May, it may not have mattered as the Phillies have refused to lose this season. Getting the offense turned around and Atlanta's pitching staff continuing to roll along would be a great start, but Philadelphia is going to have to slow down if the Braves are going to make up the seven game deficit in the division they are currently looking at.

Also, this is your friendly reminder that the Mets have a total payroll this season of over $308 million and they are under .500 for the season. Even coming off a tough loss to the Yankees on Saturday, that has to put a small smile on Braves fans' faces.

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