ATLANTA -- Nick Allen is the starting shortstop. Eli White is the primary right fielder. And Scott Blewitt has made as many starts as both Spencer Strider and Reynaldo López.
Safe to say this Braves season hasn’t gone as expected. But, it’s a good thing that the team quickly realized Allen was a far better option both offensively and defensively than Orlando Arcia. It took a little longer for White to grab an everyday role, but the impact of having him replace the recently-demoted Jarred Kelenic has been significant.
As for the rotation, the absences of Strider and López have made it even more challenging for the Braves to dig out of the hole created by an 0-7 start. But while Spencer Schwellenbach has hit a rough patch, Chris Sale has righted himself and Grant Holmes has rewarded the team’s decision to continue using him as a starter.
A little more than a month into the unexpected stretch, let’s look at why it might be prudent for me to take a mulligan on my preseason predictions.
Preseason prediction: Team MVP: Austin Riley
Five months of Ronald Acuña Jr. will put him in consideration, but this is the year that everything will come together for Riley. The third baseman will enjoy his first 40-homer season and win his first Gold Glove Award.
Updated prediction: Team MVP: Riley
I promise I wrote this before yesterday’s two-homer game and then had to update the graph. It’s concerning that Riley has gone from striking out approximately one out of every four plate appearances to one out of every three thus far this year. But he has a .949 OPS over his past 26 games and he’s now on pace to hit 39 homers. He often heats up as summer approaches. If he does so again this year, he might actually be at the forefront of NL MVP talk.
