The Atlanta Braves are really going through it right now with the suspension of Jurickson Profar, their number two starter Reynaldo Lopez landing on the IL, and starting the season with seven losses on the West Coast.
Atlanta is the only winless team in Major League Baseball and offensively, they’re at the bottom of the barrel. The Braves have a team slash line of .151/.251/.234. To make matters worse, they’ve hit just four homers and have driven in a measly 12 runs while going 6-for-49 with runners in scoring position so far this season.
This has led fans to rightfully question the decision-making of the front office, and more specifically, Alex Anthopoulos. Profar claimed he didn’t knowingly take the banned substance hCG that caused his suspension. There are questions surrounding when the team knew there was an issue. When was the test administered? During the offseason or the first week of the season?
Jurickson Profar suspension, Reynaldo Lopez injury brings Braves’ decision-making further into question
The Braves are lucky AA added as much outfield depth as he did this offseason. Not that the depth is making a huge difference in the lineup at the moment. The offense is a problem but with the talent on this roster, there’s hope it will turn around soon.
However, the rotation and bullpen have tons of questions that need to be answered. Atlanta didn’t do anything to address the loss of Max Fried and Charlie Morton, nor did they address the loss of both of their setup men. A.J. Minter is with the New York Mets and Joe Jimenez is out for the season due to injury.
The lack of additions in those areas has been on full display. Lopez pitched the most innings in a season since 2019 last year. This was a concern many Braves fans had with signing a reliever and stretching him out to start games. He pitched well, but there were injury issues with his forearm and shoulder last season.
It’s becoming apparent that Alex Anthopoulos and the Braves front office didn’t do enough to improve the roster
Atlanta attempted to make a similar deal with Jeff Hoffman this offseason but passed on a five-year deal due to concerns with his shoulder. Hoffman has only pitched out of the bullpen for Toronto so far, and honestly, he’d be a welcome sight for the Braves bullpen right now.
The bullpen lacks clarity as there’s no defined role for the late innings outside of Raisel Iglesias. We heard rumors the Braves had an interest in both Garrett Crochet and Tanner Scott this offseason but lost out to organizations that had more prospect capital for a Crochet trade or money to land Scott.
It’s just bizarre that the team had everyone believe they were going to spend a lot during the offseason and now the team is struggling to put a winning product on the field. That has started to erode the faith and trust many fans have in the front office. There’s still time to turn things around but it has not gotten off to a promising start.
