Braves Starting Rotation Finding Its Footing, Identity

Slowly but surely, the Atlanta Braves' starting rotation is starting to come into its own this season. The question marks of who the five pitchers would be never fully got settled, and injuries didn't make it easier.

Three names have helped make this outlook clearer. One was seen as a future part of the rotation, but others have risen up beyond their expectations. Those three are AJ Smith-Shawver, Grant Holmes and Bryce Elder.

"It can be huge," Braves manager Brian Snitker said. "I know that because when you lose starting pitching, like we have the last couple of years through free agency and injury and all, it's just so hard to replace that and to have guys step up like that could be huge for us."

The efforts of these three pitchers starting to show up in the win column. The team has won all of Elder's most recent starts. They're 3-1 in Holmes' last four starts. Smith-Shawver has won both of his games since his return to the Majors. That's a 9-1 record in a combined 10 starts going back to April 14.

This doesn't even include Chris Sale's 2.76 ERA in his last three starts that have come in that same time. Add those starts in and the team is 11-2 between the four.

The Braves bats didn't back his most recent dominant performance, but if he gives seven innings of two-run ball consistently like he did last season, they going to win those games more often than not.

Something is starting to materialize, and it's morphing into a unique identity. It's a starting rotation of rag-tag pitchers. One is a top prospect for the team with a roller-coaster journey (AJ). One came out of nowhere at nearly 30 years old (Holmes). One seemed like his time as a Major League starter, only getting another chance after an injury (Elder). Another is an All-Star pitcher who had a renaissance last year after being written off by his former team (Sale).

It's an odds-defying identity. This team is pushing to overcome a 0-7 start, so this identity fits. It's all about proving everyone wrong.

None of this should work in theory, but it does. Time will tell how sustainable it is. For now, the wins are hard to argue.

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