Braves come in at surprising spot on FanGraphs offseason power rankings

The Braves 2024 campaign was a pretty forgettable season, headlined by injuries.

From Atlanta’s Opening Day lineup, six of the ten starters, including the pitcher, missed significant time because of injury. That lineup played a total of six innings together all season.

It began in the Braves opener, with Sean Murphy injuring his oblique in the seventh inning of that game. He would go on to miss nearly two months. Ozzie Albies suffered a toe and wrist fracture. Michael Harris II strained his hamstring, and both of them missed around two months with their respective injuries.

That wasn’t even the gut punch. That came when Spencer Strider was lost for the season after just one start, Ronald Acuna Jr. tore his ACL in late May, and Austin Riley’s season ended in August. That doesn’t even include the losses of A.J. Minter, Reynaldo Lopez, Pierce Johnson, and Max Fried for shorter stints.

Suffice to say, the Braves were dealt a raw deal last season, but that’s last season. The goal for 2025 is the same as it was during Spring Training this year — World Series or bust. Expectations haven’t changed, and for good reason.

The roster is still loaded with talent, and FanGraphs believes the same, ranking the Braves atop their 2025 offseason power rankings.

The Braves endured injuries to their best hitter and best pitcher early in 2024 and had all sorts of other things go wrong during the season, yet they still managed to sneak into the playoffs. They enter the offseason with the best projection in baseball thanks to a roster that’s still one of the most talented in the majors, even though neither Ronald Acuña Jr. nor Spencer Strider are expected to be ready for Opening Day. With both Max Fried and Charlie Morton departing in free agency, Atlanta needs some pitching reinforcements, but the rest of the foundation is solid.

It’s a bit surprising because the Dodgers are World Series champions and are only expected to get better with Shohei Ohtani returning to the rotation, along with the deepest pockets in baseball to continue to pluck the most sought after free agents.

Even without Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuna Jr., who were the Braves best players in 2023, the club still boasts a breadth of talent.

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Photographer: Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire

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