Saturday, February 07

ATLANTA -- Welcome to baseball’s season of optimism, during which you can forget about last year’s struggles and look forward to what this year could bring. Yeah, you’ll have some concerns when Spring Training opens next week. That’s part of being a fan. But so, too, is the opportunity to dream big. 

As Braves pitchers and catchers prepare for their first workout on Tuesday, here is a thought about these seven Braves.

Ronald Acuña Jr.: Last year’s flat-footed throw from the right-field corner to third base only strengthened the belief Acuña is the most physically gifted player to ever wear a Braves uniform. He repeatedly does the unthinkable. This is why it’s easy to predict he’ll be first player to ever have a 40/40 season after tearing his ACL in both knees. 

Matt Olson: Olson has hit the fourth-most home runs since 2018 and he stands with Shohei Ohtani, Pete Alonso, Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber as the only players to hit 29-plus homers each of the past five seasons. He started slowly and then finished strong both of the past two seasons, notching a .969 OPS in his final 45 games last year. He had a .929 OPS in April of 2023 and cruised toward franchise records in homers and RBIs. If he gets off to a good start, he’ll be in the thick of the MVP talk just like he was three years ago.

Austin Riley: Hall of Famers Eddie Mathews (6), Andruw Jones (5) and Hank Aaron (4) are the only Braves who have had more 30-plus homer seasons at age 26 or younger than Riley, who had three straight such seasons from 2021-23. Injuries have stalled the third baseman’s rise to greatness the past two years. The fractured hand suffered near the end of the 2024 season had a lingering impact in 2025. Such is the case with hand and wrist ailments. But the abdominal strain that forced Riley to miss most of last year’s second half won’t deter him as he enjoys another 30-homer season this year.

Ozzie Albies: Speaking of hand injuries, the left wrist fracture Albies suffered just after the All-Star break in 2024 limited him last year. There’s hope that the hamate fracture that ended his 2025 season will prove to be as inconsequential as the pinky fracture suffered near the end of the 2022 season. Albies responded in 2023 by hitting 30-plus homers for the second time in three seasons. Does he have another such season in him? Before definitively shutting the door, consider that he homered approximately once every 26 at-bats after last year’s All-Star break. That would equate to 25 homers over 650 at-bats. 

Jurickson Profar: Will we see the Profar who hit 12 homers and had an .878 OPS over the first 53 games he played after returning on July 2 from his 80-game PED suspension? Or should we be concerned by the fact he had a .625 OPS over 23 games in September? It’s safe to say the veteran still has something to prove in the second year of his three-year deal.

Spencer Strider: As frustrating as parts of last season might have been for Strider, there’s a chance he’ll one day look back on 2025 as the year he became a more complete pitcher. Yeah, his velo was down a tick and his slider didn’t play like it did in 2023. But he added a curveball and routinely had to battle without his best stuff. One more year away from a second elbow surgery, the velo will tick back up, the slider could regain some bite and that unique vertical movement he previously created should return. Pitchers can return from elbow surgery the following season, but it often takes more than a year to return to normal.

Michael Harris II: The 2022 NL Rookie of the Year has played just five seasons above the high school level and four of those seasons have been spent in the Majors. He is coming off one of the oddest seasons you’ll encounter. He produced the game’s worst OPS (.551) through the All-Star break and then produced a 1.139 OPS over his first 31 games after the break. He then constructed a woeful .327 OPS over his next 24 games. But instead of throwing in the towel, he tallied a 1.048 OPS over the final 12 games. Small sample size? Sure. But the determined finish by a great athlete creates reason to predict a 30/30 season this year.

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