Atlanta Braves 2014 Season Preview: Staff Predictions

Mar 25, 2014; Lakeland, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves manager

(33) during the game against the Detroit Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Fletcher Keel

The 2014 Atlanta Braves season will mirror the 2008-2009 season the Atlanta Hawks had – the season is going to fly and go relatively under the radar, because everyone is expecting the Braves to not only make the playoffs, but come back and win their first round series.

To that, I say – not so fast my friend. The Braves have a good team this year again, with minimal turnover, but some of the turnover (notably, the loss of Brian McCann and Tim Hudson) is key, and definitely will be missed in the line-up and pitching staff. However, the core group of guys – Heyward, Justin Upton, Freeman, Simmons – are here, and for the long haul, and this season will mark the beginning of a new era. The losses of Medlen and Beachy hurt, obviously, but makes the acquisitions of Gavin Floyd and Aaron Harang even that much more important, as well as give guys like David Hale and Alex Wood a serious opportunity, one that they probably wouldn’t have had otherwise.

The one thing that is striking to me this offseason (especially as opposed to last), is the lack of talk about strikeouts in the lineup. It was all that anyone spoke of before the season, and while the Braves did strike out a lot (coming it at 3rd in the show and leading the NL with 1,384), they also proved that they could strikeout six times a game, and still win a division.

The East has gotten tougher over the off-season. The Nats made some big moves (Doug Fister from Detroit), and the young Marlins squad have a full year of ball under their belt, and a great pitching staff themselves, and it’ll make for an exciting home stretch.

I say the Atlanta Braves make the playoffs again, but grab the second wildcard spot, and will square off with the Marlins. I just checked – the Marlins infield does NOT extend into shallow-left field.