What positions do the Atlanta Braves need to upgrade this offseason?

This Atlanta Braves team doesn't have many holes, but there's major investment needed in pitching, especially the bullpen

The 2023 Atlanta Braves set records behind a powerful offense, fueled by a dynamic leadoff hitter in Ronald Acuña Jr and Matt Olson's league-leading power production. 

The pitching staff battled through the losses of Max Fried and Kyle Wright to have the most starter wins in baseball (66), using 13 different starters and three relievers as "openers" to cover 162 games. The Braves also had MLB's only 20-game winner in Spencer Strider, who paced the entire league in strikeouts (281) and strikeout rate (13.5), as well as FIP (2.85).  

But there's room for improvement, and what Atlanta does this season should be focused on three key areas (and one other minor area). In no particular order: 

Left field

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The Atlanta Braves used five different left fielders in 2023, with Eddie Rosario (127 games) and Kevin Pillar (41G) accounting for the majority of those starts. 

(If you were curious, Marcell Ozuna started out there twice in the first three games of the season, with Sam Hilliard getting four early-season starts and Forrest Wall getting three late-season starts). 

The cumulative slash line for the left fielders was .254/.297/.460, with 28 homers, 97 RBIs, and six stolen bases. Braves left fielders graded out to a .984 fielding percentage, with four of the five errors being charged to Rosario, and logging four outfield assists, also all belonging to Rosario. 

The reason this position is listed down to contract status: Both Pillar and Rosario are free agents, although Atlanta holds a $9M club option on Rosario for his age-33 season. 

Even if GM Alex Anthopoulos exercises that option and brings back Rosario (Kevin Pillar has already indicated he won't be returning), something has to be done to address the LHP-side of the platoon. 

That might be a free agent (and we'll have that article come up soon), it might be an internal option (Vaughn Grisso's name has been floated as an option), but Atlanta's inevitably going to make some sort of move here. 

The bullpen needs an overhaul

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Atlanta's bullpen, a strength of the 2021 World Series team, wasn't nearly as effective in 2023. There's multiple reasons why Atlanta has a lot of work to do on the bullpen. 

The first is that so many relievers are leaving - of the regulars in the pen this season, a handful of them have either pricey club options that will likely be declined (Kirby Yates, Brad Hand, Collin McHugh) or are free agents (Pierce Johnson, Joe Jiménez, Jesse Chavez). 

Another factor necessitating a rebuild is the Braves had one of the softest-tossing bullpens in the majors, with only two bullpens throwing less 96 mph fastballs than Atlanta's (credit Justin Toscano of the AJC). Most of those four came from the quarter of Raisel Iglesias, A.J. Minter, and pending free agents Jiménez and Johnson.

(If you were curious, Atlanta threw 543, while Philly led baseball with 2,702.)

Assuming Daysbel Hernández is part of the pen - that's where Atlanta debuted him back in July and where he was for the NLDS, so it feels like a pretty safe assumption - the Braves still need three or four relievers just to fill the pen, even knowing that Tyler Matzek and Dylan Lee are projected to be back next season. 

Hernandez making the league minimum will help, but look for multiple signings or trades to be made here. 

Does Atlanta add a starting pitcher?

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

This was a big question in Monday's mailbag, but specifically pertaining to a "frontline" starter. 

I do think Atlanta adds a starting pitcher from outside the organization in the offseason, for a few reasons. 

The first is the uncertainty around Charlie Morton - as our Jake Mastroianni discussed yesterday, there's arguments both for and against picking up his $20M option, but that's also subject to whether or not he wants to come back for his age-40 season. Combine that with Kyle Wright missing all of 2024 as he recovers from shoulder surgery and it's obvious you'll need starters in 2024 - maybe not the 13 (plus three relievers who "opened" a game) you used in 2023, but you'll need starters. 

But the other fact is a longer-term picture: Max Fried's last season of contractual control in 2024, and he's probably not re-signing with Atlanta. Michael Soroka, owing to time he'll accrue this season while on the injured list, will also be a free agent after 2024, as will Yonny Chirinos. 

That leaves Spencer Strider as your only known "frontline" starter - yes you have promising prospects in AJ Smith-Shawer & Hurston Waldrep, but even if they're ready for a full-time rotation job in 2024 (AJSS) or 2025 (Waldrep), there's no guarantees that they're ready to be that slam-dunk postseason starter. 

Look for Atlanta to kick the tires on available starting pitching options in both the free agency and trade markets, and probably bring in at least one, if not multiple) options. 

High-quality depth

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Atlanta's deadline trade for Nicky Lopez and, to a lesser extent, the Vaughn Grissom promotion in 2022 showed an issue with Atlanta's roster depth. There wasn't a quality SS option on the roster when Orlando Arcia went down with his micro-fractured wrist, with Braden Shewmake and Vaughn Grissom cycling through that role, and that illustrates a depth issue that's plagued Atlanta for a few years now. 

In the 2021 World Series season, Atlanta was using infielders Charlie Culberson, Ehire Adrianza, and Orlando Arcia in left field prior to the trade deadline, where they went out and got four different options for the outfield. Last year, the Braves went through five different starting second basemen (plus two innings from Rylan Bannon) trying to replace an injured Ozzie Albies. 

A depth corner infielder cold be nice - Lopez can fill in temporarily at both third and first (and did, in 2023), but the roster doesn't really have anyone to fill a backup corner infielder profile for any sort of long-term injury - a big bat, middle-of-the-order hitter. If Riley or Olson have any sort of extended absence, Lopez is the only real organizational option to be an everyday starter. 

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