Braves 2024 Calendar Year Receives Mediocre Final Letter Grade

The Atlanta Braves impressed given the circumstances, but they still fell well below their usual expectations

The Braves overcame a lot but still had a so-so year / D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

The 2024 season and calendar year was a turbulent one for the Atlanta Braves. That roller coaster still managed to land them in the middle of the pack for how their season is rated.

Bleacher Reports’ Zachary D. Rymer put out his grades for each MLB franchise in 2024 on an A to F scale - like we were graded in school. He graded the Braves a C, which indicates a need for improvement. Few who follow the Braves would disagree with the grade, especially since these grades are relative to expectations. 

For some in-division examples, the New York Mets had the same record as the Braves and got an A grade. The Philadelphia Phillies won 95 games and the division and got a B. 

Each team is judged by “The Good” and “The Bad.” There is no “The Ugly” category - sorry, Clint Eastwood fans. 

Rymer liked that the Braves overcame all the injuries that piled up to reach the playoffs for the seventh year in a row. Chris Sale winning the Cy Young was a plus and so was Marcell Ozuna’s production. 

That being said, he didn’t like the underperforming players who were healthy. That led to a 15-win drop-off from the year before. It led to the offense having one of the largest year-to-year dips in MLB. Add on Max Fried signing with the Yankees, and the end result is a mediocre grade. 

Since the offseason factors into the grades, some type of offseason move outside of minor league contracts and the Rule 5 Draft might have been able to boost them to a B grade. Getting that big move for next season helped the Mets just as much as reaching the NLCS. 

All things considered, it’s a fair grade to give this team. The Braves could take a leap forward just by being healthy next season. This would likely be the case for them more than any other team in the Majors. 

But they didn’t have the luck, so they had a down year. That happens. When your rivals make moves and you don’t, that’s going to ding you as well. 

On the bright side, even if 2024 ended with a whimper and got the grade that reflected it, they still have time to get ahead on their grade for 2025.