ATLANTA — It wasn’t anything the Atlanta Braves didn’t already know, since it’s been a recurring theme in recent years. But last week served as a reminder for those outside the organization that the Braves continue to churn out wins regardless of who’s injured or slumping. They’ve had Sean Murphy on the injured list with a strained oblique since the season’s second game, lost ace Spencer Strider to season-ending elbow surgery after two starts, and last week placed Ozzie Albies on the IL with a fractured big toe. That’s three of eight 2023 Braves All-Stars on the shelf. But Atlanta entered Sunday night’s game against the Texas Rangers with the majors’ best record (14-5) and riding a six-game winning streak that included a road sweep against the Houston Astros in which they dominated the late innings with offensive might and bullpen superiority. Here are four takeaways about how the Braves continued to thrive even as injuries continued to mount. 1. Deep lineup The Braves have such a stacked and power-laden lineup that few seemed to notice that slugger Matt Olson was 1-for-16 in the past five games before Sunday and homerless with 15 strikeouts and a .195 average in his past 11 games. Atlanta was 8-3 in that span and scored five or more runs in nine of those games. The Braves outscored opponents 39-19 during a six-game winning streak and won eight of 10 games before Sunday, when the Braves’ Marcell Ozuna hit a three-run homer in the first inning to raise his MLB-leading totals to nine homers and 27 RBIs. The Braves led 3-0 before rookie spot-starter Darius Vines gave up four runs on two homers in the fourth inning of the Rangers’ 6-4 win. After leading the majors in most offensive categories in 2023, the Braves are doing it again, leading in average (.283), OBP (.353), slugging (.475) and OPS (.828). That’s despite relatively modest production from superstar leadoff man and reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr., who had one homer, nine stolen bases and a .799 OPS in 19 games before Sunday. “I think the biggest thing in that luxury (of a deep lineup) is that you don’t ever feel like there’s one guy that has to be the guy,” manager Brian Snitker said. “I don’t think anybody puts undue pressure on themselves that ‘Man, I’ve got to get this done because nobody else is.’ Because these guys have a really good way of passing that baton to each other, and I don’t ever see anybody up there thinking they’ve got to be the guy. That’s something that keeps us consistently a strong offensive team.” 2. Catching remains strength The Braves have played three weeks without Murphy, and it might be at least another three weeks before he returns to the lineup. He just began doing catching drills and throwing with a little more intensity during the weekend but hasn’t been cleared to swing. With arguably the best catching depth in the majors, they’ve continued to get production and strong defense from the position. Travis d’Arnaud is handling the bulk of the duties while Murphy is on the IL, and Triple-A call-up Chadwick Tromp is using all he’s learned in four years in the organization to handle pitchers and game-calling duties with aplomb. D’Arnaud had a three-homer game Friday against Texas capped by a sixth-inning grand slam that put Atlanta ahead. After not hitting a homer previously, d’Arnaud hit four and drove in eight runs in five at-bats in the first two games of the Texas series. 3. Bullpen shining The bullpen fortification project is producing exactly the kind of results general manager and president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos had in mind when he made it an offseason priority to add power-armed relievers and improve balance from both sides. Atlanta’s 3.42 bullpen ERA before Sunday ranked 10th in the majors and wasn’t a true indication of its performance most nights. Fifteen of 26 earned runs charged to Braves relievers came in three games against the Mets from April 9 to April 11, after the bullpen had a heavy workload in the previous days. That included consecutive games against Arizona that featured Strider’s four-inning final start and Max Fried’s 4 1/3-inning, seven-run start. In all games other than those three against the Mets, Braves relievers had a stingy 1.73 ERA before Sunday, allowing 11 earned runs in 57 innings. Detroit (1.65) and Cleveland (2.11) are the only teams with bullpen ERAs below 2.81. 4. López off to a sensational start A consensus among Braves observers was that Acuña and Strider were the two most indispensable Braves as the team aimed for a seventh consecutive division title and make a deep postseason run. But no one was counting on the performance so far from former reliever Reynaldo López, who’s been nothing short of sensational after opening the season as the fifth starter. He hadn’t been a starter since 2021, but López has pitched like a veteran ace in the early going, posting a 0.50 ERA that was the majors’ lowest among pitchers with three or more starts. López and veteran newcomer Chris Sale (1.05 WHIP, team-highs of 24 2/3 innings and 27 strikeouts) have helped offset a rough start to the season for Fried and the loss of Strider.
