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Atlanta Braves: Has This Team Found Its Identity Yet?

By Wesley Wilcox

Jun 9, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson (7) reacts after scoring the winning run off of a single by third baseman Rio Ruiz (not pictured) in the ninth inning against the New York Mets at SunTrust Park. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 9, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson (7) reacts after scoring the winning run off of a single by third baseman Rio Ruiz (not pictured) in the ninth inning against the New York Mets at SunTrust Park. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Atlanta Braves finished the weekend with a convincing series win over the Miami Marlins. Have the Braves finally found which direction they are headed?

Heading into this weekend’s series with the Miami Marlins, the Atlanta Braves strolled into D.C. Metro and took the series against the first place Washington Nationals. After losing 3 of 4 to the New York Mets at home, the season suddenly had a feel of this being a must win series, and the bats delivered, taking the series with a decisive 13-2 win to conclude the three game set.

In their last ten games, the Braves have mustered up a 4-6 record, and rather than playing against some of the MLB’s elite they have faltered against the NL East. One of the major obstacles the Braves have not been able to hurtle is winning the games they should be winning. Just to put this into perspective, Atlanta has taken two of the three series this season against the Nationals, and currently sit 4-4 against them on the year.

Yes, the Nationals are clearly the NL East front runner, and sit comfortably atop the division with an 11 game lead. But, the biggest head-scratcher is why can Atlanta compete with the Nationals unlike any other team in the division, but then lose to the Philadelphia Phillies?

At 31-37, the Braves have accumulated a 2-6 record against the last place Phillies, and until June 7th, Atlanta had not even won a game against the Phillies, but I’ll digress and answer the question that caught your eye: Has this Atlanta Braves team found its identity yet?

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It’s pretty astounding to know that the Braves have played decent baseball after losing Freddie Freeman, but the assurance of Matt Adams was one no one could have predicted. This 2017 team has improved so much since last year that Braves Country can’t help but be excited about the future. Sitting 7 games below .500 with only a few weeks to go until the midway point, the Braves have one of the toughest schedules with San Francisco, Milwaukee, and Houston all coming to town. This doesn’t include the west coast road trips to visit Oakland and San Diego, and who could forget about the one team that has been a theme in this article–the Washington Nationals who the Braves will pay a visit to before the All Star Break.

So what the team hasn’t found its identity yet, it’s early in the year, and I for one couldn’t be more satisfied sitting only 7 games below .500. As for the upcoming schedule, Atlanta is in dire need of some sort of revival when it comes to win streaks, but as we’ve seen so far in 2017, the bats can explode at any point, so why not now?

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