Despite a busy offseason that saw the Braves lose face of the franchise Freddie Freeman, along with key 2021 postseason contributors in Jorge Soler and Joc Pederson, much of their World Series-winning roster was kept intact.
By the time star OF Ronald Acuña returned from his ACL injury on April 28, there was a real argument to be made that this year’s roster was even better than the iteration that won the Commissioner’s Trophy. There was a lot to be excited about: Acuña’s return, the addition of Matt Olson to replace Freeman at 1B, and former top prospect Kyle Wright crushing it through three starts after being named the team’s number three starter.
The mid-season promotions of first-year sensations Michael Harris II and Spencer Strider—who had the two finest rookie campaigns in the entire National League—made the team even better, and set high expectations for the postseason.
After a dramatic NL East victory over the Mets in the final days of the regular season, Atlanta earned themselves a first-round bye, an especially significant reward given this year’s new playoff format.
Or so we thought.
The Braves fell in 4 games to the eventual NL champion Phillies, and Atlanta’s title-defense quickly came to a disappointing end.
There are no excuses for the Braves’ loss to the Phillies, but one has to wonder how big of a difference their lengthy bye made. Manager Brian Snitker believes that “five days, six days (of rest) is probably too much,” and he’s probably right.
While first-round byes are advantageous, some research has shown that certain physical adaptations decline after five days of rest on average. Atlanta’s break before Game 1 of the NLDS: six days.
Were the Braves victims of a new postseason format that may be a little unfair to the top two seeds? Maybe. But this team needed to make a deeper run in the playoffs to consider this season a success—especially given the good fortune of stellar campaigns by pending free agent Dansby Swanson, Austin Riley, Michael Harris II, Spencer Strider, and Kyle Wright.
Postseason grade: D
Regular season MVP: Austin Riley
Postseason MVP: Kyle Wright
Prominent free agents: Dansby Swanson, Kenley Jansen
