MLBTR is going deep into the bench for this week's mailbag. With Tim Dierkes and Steve Adams each on vacation, I'll step in to answer questions on the Braves' poor start, whether the Twins are a playoff-caliber team, this year's most improved rosters, Sutter Health Park, situational hitting, and much more!
Abner asks:
Even when the biggest concern with the NY Mets has always been their starting rotation, so far the starters have looked pretty good in general and the bullpen has performed almost perfectly. With the problems that have experienced the Atlanta Braves in the opening week (Reynaldo López injury, Jurickson Profar suspended, Ronald Acuña out at least until May, Spencer Strider is out for a couple of weeks at the beginning of the season) do you think that we are about to see a battle between Mets and Phillies the rest of the way?
I had the Phillies and Mets a little ahead of the Braves to begin the season. The past week certainly hasn't increased Atlanta's odds of winning the division. It's way too early to start digging their grave, though. Last year's Astros dropped five of their first six games and seven of nine. They bottomed out at 12 games below .500 in the second week of May; they ended up winning the AL West by 3.5 games. Most teams that dig themselves that big a hole will not make the playoffs, of course, but they also usually don't have as much talent as the Braves do.
Atlanta has started the season against arguably the two best teams in the National League. They're without their best player, one of the league's best pitchers, and their starting catcher. Even if you don't expect much out of Sean Murphy at this point, getting Acuña and Strider back within the next few weeks is massive. They've got 96% of the season remaining to put this behind them.
Losing Profar and López obviously hurts, largely because they're stressing areas where the roster already looked weak. The Jarred Kelenic left field experiment didn't work out in year one. Alex Verdugo could push Kelenic into a fourth outfield role once Acuña comes back, but he was unsigned deep into Spring Training for a reason. The rotation depth behind the top four or five is spotty. Strider, Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach and some combination of AJ Smith-Shawver, Grant Holmes, Bryce Elder and prospect Hurston Waldrep is probably workable. If they lose any of their top three to injury before López is able to return, it's teetering.
Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription
- Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
- Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
- Remove ads and support our writers.
- Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker
” the starters have looked pretty good in general ”
clay has been wild . too many walks and cant pitch deep into games
shoulda stayed a RP
lmao, you should actually watch the games. He’s been betrayed by his defense in both games. But even still, 9.1 innings, 3 ER (2.89 ERA), 10 ks. A little wild, sure, but the Mets have misplayed a number of balls behind him already. Competent defense and he would easily have gotten through five innings in both starts.
Regarding question 2, despite what he said (and unlike Tatis’ situation), you can’t unknowingly ingest HcG. It’s an injection, that when used in men, regenerates testosterone production (typically after steroid use to get the body’s natural production back to normal levels). He’s lying unless he legitimately thought he was taking insulin to regulate his diabetes and someone nefariously switched the meds on him.
Fangraphs had the Braves as a slight favorite at the end of Spring Training, now they have them a slight favorite to finish 3rd behind the Phillies and the Mets, and for good reason given their 0-6 start, the Phillies at 3-1, and the Mets at 2-3.
Giving outliers and exceptions and saying no big deal is a flaccid, lazy way of writing this story.
So is “Even if you don’t expect much out of Sean Murphy at this point…”
Glad I got that juicy nugget for free.
I know the wind has been taken out of their sails a bit, but I would never count the Braves out. They’ll be in the thick of it.
For sure… the NLE is going to be quite a race this season. Some exciting baseball on the way!
Torque was treated very poorly but it appears to have motivated him.
Jack doesn’t like his free content. Jack hates himself, so Jack takes out his hate on anyone and anything.
Boston is overflowing with positional player talent. Yoshida will hit wherever he ends up playing.
Atlanta’s lack of short-term flexibility creates a dangerous collapse risk. If their stars aren’t healthy at the right time, there is no Plan B—and this could be the first season where that becomes a real problem.