We need to take a second to appreciate the dominant season the Atlanta Braves are having in 2023

What the Atlanta Braves have been able to overcome this season is absolutely jaw-dropping

Suffice to say, this season hasn't gone according to plan for the Atlanta Braves. 

From a health standpoint, it feels like the accumulated good luck that Atlanta's had in the last few seasons has finally caught up to them, in the worst ways, in 2023.

Max Fried and Kyle Wright, who combined for sixty starts and three hundred and sixty-five innings last year (with thirty-one wins) have thrown a combined forty-four and two-thirds innings this year and are both on the 60-day IL, with Fried expected back sometime in July and Wright not until August, if at all. In the bullpen, five different relievers have spent at least fifteen days on the IL, with Jesse Chavez undoubtedly destined to join them after being injured in the Tigers doubleheader on Wednesday.  

Of your position players, your injured list stints have been up the middle, with CF Michael Harris II (back), SS Orlando Arcia (wrist), and Travis d'Arnaud (concussion) combining for eighty-five days on the injured list. 

And not everyone has been as effective as last year when healthy - for your pitchers, Spencer Strider (4.12), AJ Minter (5.68), and Raisel Iglesias (4.32) all have ERAs over four, with a combined nine losses already on the season. 

And offensively, several regulars have gone through truly atrocious stretches at the plate. Whether it's designated hitter Marcell Ozuna starting the season 5-59, third baseman Austin Riley having a 14-70 stretch with only three extra base hits that saw his slash line drop to .239/.323/.399 in mid-May, or Matt Olson batting a career-low .228 with a MLB-leading 92 strikeouts through sixty-eight games, it hasn't been pretty at times for the Atlanta Braves. 

After reading that, it'd be reasonable to assume that Atlanta was repeating the pattern of last year, where they were 10.5 games back of the New York Mets in the National League East on June 1st and didn't even get to .500 until a June 4th win in Colorado brought their record to 27-27. 

If you assumed that, you'd be wrong.

The Atlanta Braves are 42-26, the 4th best winning percentage in baseball and the best in the National League. Atlanta's 4.5 game division lead over the Miami Marlins is half a game back from Tampa Bay's as the largest division lead in baseball, and leads the National League. 

They've won nine of their past eleven games, the last four series, and haven't had a losing streak longer than four games all season (while rattling off an eight-game winning streak in April). Their +72 run differential is third best in baseball, behind only Texas (+145) and Tampa Bay (+141). 

Atlanta's got six players in double figures for home runs, the most in baseball, led by Matt Olson's 18. Ronald Acuña Jr has stolen 29 bags and added 15 bombs, scoring a MLB-leading 59 runs and leading the National League in hits (92), stolen bases (29), and total bases (160). 

This is what Alex Anthopoulos has built. A team - a quality team - with depth. Full of stars (like Ronald Acuña Jr), signed on long-term deals, with great clubhouse guys (Charlie Culberson) and diamond in the rough role players (Kevin Pillar, Jesse Chavez). Young prospects who can come up and stabilize the rotation, (Bryce Elder and Jared Shuster), with homegrown studs (Spencer Strider) and veteran free agents who still get after it (Charlie Morton).

So yeah, there's things to complain about with the Braves team. It feels like the final game of the series always seems to get away from Atlanta. The team's been walked off three times, and blown sixteen leads this season (all games eventually lost after having the lead at any point). 

But it could be a lot worse - you could be the Mets, who have by far the highest payroll in baseball and are in 4th place in the division, four games below .500. 

Savor it. The old saying is that "it's better to be lucky than good", but right now, Atlanta's both. 

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