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Travis d’Arnaud’s honest Braves warning will frighten rest of MLB

Originally posted on ClutchPoints | By Matt Wadleigh | Last updated 4/24/24

The Atlanta Braves entered Wednesday in first place in the National League East with a 16-6 record, the best in the entire National League. They are making a ton of noise to begin the 2024 season and have high expectations.

But, the Braves have also seen a trio of hitters get off to slow starts as Matt Olson, Austin Riley, and Ronald Acuna Jr. have all been in a bit of a skid for them lately. And, somehow, they have managed to win games. Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud dropped an honest take on the state of the team and what lies ahead for them (h/t David O’Brien of The Athletic).

“It’s crazy, I feel like we’ve been playing good baseball, but I don’t feel like we’ve been playing as good as we can,” d’Arnaud said. “Obviously Ozo’s been carrying a big load of that. So, I think as the season goes on we’ll hopefully just keep getting better and better. I think as the season goes and we get in that kind of groove, it’ll be fun. And fun to watch.”

Ozo here is referring to Marcell Ozuna, who is hitting .326 with nine home runs and 27 RBIs with 18 runs scored. He has been doing the majority of the damage for the Braves despite the slumps from the others. The Braves have also been bitten by the injury bug, including Spencer Strider being ruled out for the entire season.

Braves hitters going through some mechanical adjustments

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The Braves trio of slumping sluggers are doing whatever they can in order to get back on track at the plate. Hitting coach Kevin Seitzer detailed the changes they are aiming for in hopes of turning it around, per O’Brien.

“(Olson) and Riley both, the mechanics are a little out of whack. Ronnie’s not synced up the way he was last year. Not yet. I felt like, probably for our last five days, (Acuña) is getting close. But Matt and Austin have been working with some mechanical adjustments that we’ve seen some differences from when they’re going well.”

Olson is hitless in eight straight games. Riley has just two hits total in the past six games. Acuna’s numbers are down drastically from last season: He is hitting .291 with just one home run and six RBIs after clubbing 41 home runs and 106 RBIs last season.

All in all, they are winning games, and d’Arnaud’s message should be a scary sight for MLB teams across the league. Once this trio of hitters figures it out at the plate, the offense will be even better.

Entering Wednesday’s series finale against the Miami Marlins, the Braves have won eight of the last nine games and are rolling. They face the Cleveland Guardians for a three-game set in Atlanta before traveling west to face the Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Dodgers.

This article first appeared on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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