The Braves are rolling, and that’s not even doing it justice. The just keep winning, and it’s the way they are doing it that is so impressive. Every person in their lineup is performing like an All-Star, picking up a pitching staff that has been littered with injuries.
If I had told you the Braves would only get 10 starts out of Max Fried and Kyle Wright to this point in the season, nobody would have predicted that they would be running away with first place in the NL East. That’s not even mentioning all of the injuries they have had to deal with in the bullpen. Raisel Iglesias and Collin McHugh have each spent time on the IL, and Dylan Lee and Jesse Chavez are currently out with injuries.
The Braves pitching staff has been battered since Opening Day, and while the healthy contributors have been more than fine, the offense has picked up the team and carried it through a memorable month of June.
The Braves look unstoppable, and they are slated to get much healthier in the coming months. Fried has thrown several bullpen sessions on his way back, and Wright has begun throwing again. Both of them should be back at some point in the second half of the season. Lee is also nearing a return, and Chavez’s injury isn’t deemed to be serious. We could see the veteran back on the mound very soon.
On top of that, Jackson Stephens, who I honestly had forgotten about, is slated to begin his rehab assignment.
Stephens was actually DFA’d off the Braves 40-man during spring training but was outrighted to Gwinnett. Then, he was placed on the IL with an undisclosed injury and never heard from… until now.
With the performances of guys like Chavez, Michael Tonkin and, most recently, Ben Heller, I’m not sure if we will see Stephens in the majors this season. However, he was a high quality relief arm for the Braves a season ago, and a team can never have enough bullpen options. The Braves should know that as well as anyone with all of the injuries they have suffered this season.
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