Braves' Biggest Obstacles Heading Into the 2025 Season

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Aaron Diaz | Last updated Mar 10, 2025 6:18 AM ET

There were a lot of things that went wrong for the Braves in the 2024 season. The injury bug hit the team hard with their year turning questions and concerns that loom for the 2025 season.

For Atlanta, there are a lot of different factors on how they will face the upcoming season and what can happen. Here are some main points....

Injuries

Injuries will always be something to look at for any MLB team. However, specifically for the Braves, the injury bug hit them so hard last year that it can still affect the early part of this year.

At one point, Atlanta had their biggest stars like Ronald Acuna Jr., Spencer Strider, Austin Riley and Ozzie Albies either on the IL or were out entirely. However, this dropped their season from high to low expectations.

Sean Murphy and Strider are expected to return in mid-to late April while Acuna should be back by mid-May.

If Atlanta can put together a good first half of the season while the other teams get healthy, they'll be looking at playing meaningful baseball in August and September.

Starting Rotation

Along with their injuries, the pitching for Atlanta came through in a huge way last season. However, now with the loss of Max Fried to free agency and Charlie Morton, the Braves are putting a lot of strings together for this season's rotation.

Strider will be coming off an UCL injury which takes time for players to get back to their normal self. In all likelihood, Strider will perform better as the season progresses.

Reynaldo Lopez, who was a big surprise to Atlanta last season, will have to prove himself as a two or three starter.

Spencer Schwellenbach was also a big surprise as he finished the season with a 3.35 ERA and 127 strikeouts. Alongside Lopez, he will also have much to prove.

With Cy Young award winner Chris Sale most likely to be filled at the top of the rotation, behind him stands a questionable staff with a high ceiling but a low floor as well.

Division

The NL East division race for the Braves got a lot more difficult during the offseason. The New York Mets were able to pull in one of the biggest free agents, Juan Soto. New York made a miraculous run to the NLCS in 2024 and with Soto now in the mix, they will be fighting at the top of the division.

The Phillies have also made waves since their surprise run to the World Series in 2022. With Bryce Harper and Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia also looks to stamp their flag as division winners once again this season.

While all 29 other teams have concerns about their roster, Atlanta has specific questions to address as opening day approaches. These are some key points that manager Brian Snitker will need to focus on.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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