Rebuilding a baseball team is about as fun as watching paint dry while simultaneously getting a root canal (and paying for the privilege). Just ask any fan who’s survived one. The Atlanta Braves, however, turned what could have been years of soul-crushing mediocrity into a masterclass of organizational resurrection that would make Lazarus himself slow-clap in appreciation.
13. The Crossroads of 2014
The 2014 Braves were baseball’s equivalent of that friend who keeps insisting they’re “five minutes away” when they haven’t even left the house yet. Jason Heyward teased brilliance like a Netflix show that never gets past season one, while Freddie Freeman (.288/.386/.461) was the only guy consistently showing up to work. Sure, Julio Teheran (2.89 ERA) and Craig Kimbrel (47 saves) were dealing, but the team collapsed faster than your willpower at a buffet.
12. Initiating the Mini-Rebuild
Baseball executives John Hart and company approached the 2014-2015 offseason with all the subtlety of a wrecking ball at a china shop. They shipped off Jason Heyward to St. Louis faster than you can say “future Cardinal disappointment.” Justin Upton? Gone to San Diego, bringing back some dude named Max Fried (who turned out to be pretty good at throwing baseballs—who knew?). Evan Gattis packed his legendary lumberjack beard for Houston.
These trades were about as popular with fans as a rain delay during a playoff game, but the blueprint was clear: short-term pain for long-term gain. (A concept my credit card company wishes I would understand.)
11. 2015
The 2015 Braves stumbled to a 67-95 record that had fans reaching for the hard stuff by Memorial Day. Shelby Miller somehow earned an All-Star nod despite a 6-17 record (baseball’s equivalent of winning “Best Personality” in high school). Freddie Freeman (.276/.370/.471) continued being Freddie Freeman, blissfully unaware he was performing on the baseball equivalent of the Titanic.
Meanwhile, down on the farm, guys with names like “Ozzie Albies” and “Ronald Acuña Jr.” were turning heads faster than a celebrity meltdown on Twitter. The front office added more prospects through the draft, essentially collecting baseball Pokémon for future evolution.
10. The Offseason Art of Highway Robbery
The 2015-2016 offseason is when the Braves’ front office apparently discovered mind control. How else do you explain trading Andrelton Simmons—a man who could’ve won Gold Gloves with his eyes closed—for Sean Newcomb and change?
But their true masterpiece was flipping Shelby Miller to Arizona for Ender Inciarte, Dansby Swanson, and Aaron Blair, a heist so brazen it should’ve required ski masks and a getaway driver. Acquiring the previous year’s #1 overall pick for a pitcher who would later wash out of baseball is the kind of move that gets you investigated by the baseball authorities (or at least earns you some seriously suspicious side-eye at the winter meetings).
9. 2016
The 2016 season (68-93) was like that movie sequel nobody asked for—still terrible but with just enough new elements to keep you from walking out. Mike Foltynewicz (whose last name continues to be the arch-nemesis of spellcheck) showed flashes of brilliance between meltdowns. Dansby Swanson arrived with all the fanfare of a royal baby, hitting .302 in his 38-game debut while making half of Atlanta swoon over his hair alone.
Freddie Freeman went full beast mode (.302, 34 HR, 91 RBI), essentially putting the team on his back like an MLB version of a single parent working three jobs. His efforts roughly translated to: “I know this team is a dumpster fire, but I signed a contract and I’m a man of my word.”
8. 2017
The 2017 Braves (72-90) were basically your friend’s garage band—clearly not ready for primetime but showing just enough potential that you can’t completely write them off. Dansby Swanson suffered the dreaded sophomore slump, hitting .232 with all the consistency of WiFi in a thunderstorm.
The pitching staff posted a collective 4.72 ERA (roughly equivalent to bringing a water pistol to a gunfight), while the Bartolo Colon experiment failed so spectacularly it deserves its own episode of “Mythbusters.”
But down in the minors? Ronald Acuña Jr. was tearing through three levels of the minors like a toddler through birthday presents, hitting .325 with 21 homers and making opposing pitchers question their career choices.
7. 2018
The 2018 season hit Atlanta like an unexpected tax refund. Suddenly, the Braves were winning 90 games and claiming the NL East title, causing fans to check their calendars to make sure they hadn’t accidentally time-traveled to the 90s.
Ronald Acuña Jr. arrived like Thor landing in Wakanda, bringing lightning, thunder, and a Rookie of the Year award. Ozzie Albies started hitting doubles like they were going out of style. Meanwhile, Freddie Freeman continued his one-man crusade against opposing pitchers, and Mike Foltynewicz (2.85 ERA) briefly convinced everyone he was the ace we’d been promised (narrator: “He wasn’t”).
6. Alex Anthopoulos: The Man, The Myth, The Contract Extension Wizard
In November 2017, Alex Anthopoulos took over as GM, bringing an approach that combined old-school scouting with analytics like a DJ successfully mixing Sinatra with Daft Punk. His first genius move was signing Josh Donaldson to a one-year, $23 million “prove-it” deal that worked out better than most marriages.
Then came his true sorcery: somehow convincing Ronald Acuña Jr. (8 years, $100 million) and Ozzie Albies (7 years, $35 million) to sign contracts so team-friendly that the MLB Players Association probably had to be talked down from filing a formal protest. These deals were so lopsided that Anthopoulos presumably keeps the contracts locked in a safe alongside blackmail photos of both players. (I’m kidding, obviously. The safe is probably just a regular filing cabinet.)
5. 2019
The 2019 Braves were like that student who aces every test all semester then freezes on the final exam. Their 97-win regular season had fans planning playoff parties, only to watch another NLDS faceplant that felt as inevitable as Atlanta traffic on a Friday afternoon.
Josh Donaldson mashed 37 homers while proving that sometimes short-term relationships can be fulfilling for everyone involved. Acuña flirted with the exclusive 40-40 club (41 HR, 37 SB) but couldn’t secure dinner reservations (thanks to being mildly injured and his manager’s mysterious allergy to green lights on the basepaths).
Mike Soroka emerged with a 2.68 ERA, pitching with the poise of a 40-year-old vet despite being young enough to get carded at R-rated movies. Max Fried continued developing into a frontline starter with the best curveball this side of Sandy Koufax (a comparison that’s either sacrilegious or spot-on, depending on your birth decade).
4. 2020: The COVID Season That Nobody Asked For
The pandemic-shortened 2020 season was baseball’s equivalent of attending a Zoom wedding—technically it counted, but nobody’s going to reminisce fondly about it in 20 years. Despite the weirdness, the Braves clinched another division title in the 60-game sprint while Freddie Freeman claimed MVP honors with batting numbers (.341/.462/.640) that looked like they came from a video game played on “easy” mode.
Marcell Ozuna led the NL in homers and RBIs while becoming the unofficial king of the “invisible selfie” celebration, which spread through the team faster than sourdough recipes during lockdown. Young pitchers Ian Anderson and Kyle Wright showed promise, providing hope that maybe—just maybe—the Braves could develop starting pitching without them spontaneously combusting.
The team fell one win short of the World Series, continuing Atlanta’s proud tradition of coming up just short in heartbreaking fashion (a tradition more reliable than your grandmother’s holiday fruitcake).
3. 2021
If Hollywood wrote the 2021 Braves season, critics would pan the script for being too unrealistic. When Ronald Acuña Jr.—the team’s human highlight reel—crumpled with a torn ACL in July, fans began practicing their “wait till next year” speeches. The team was below .500 at the trade deadline, looking about as threatening as a kitten in a thunderstorm.
Then GM Alex Anthopoulos went shopping at the baseball equivalent of a garage sale, acquiring Jorge Soler, Eddie Rosario, Joc Pederson, and Adam Duvall for what amounted to spare change and some baseball cards. This entirely new outfield—assembled for less than what some teams spend on clubhouse snacks—proceeded to catch fire like a gas station microwave.
The team surged, won the division with 88 wins (the baseball equivalent of getting into an Ivy League school with a 2.8 GPA), then knocked off the Brewers, Dodgers, and heavily-favored Astros to secure their first World Series since 1995. Eddie Rosario turned into Babe Ruth for three weeks, Jorge Soler hit a ball that NASA is still tracking, and Atlanta fans finally had permission to believe good things can happen to them in postseason play.
2. 2022: Life After Freddie
When franchise cornerstone Freddie Freeman departed for the Dodgers, it felt like your parents getting divorced and dad immediately moving in with a supermodel in Malibu. The heartbreak lasted approximately 48 hours, or exactly how long it took Anthopoulos to trade for Matt Olson and sign him to an eight-year extension. The message was clear: The Atlanta Braves wait for no man, not even beloved MVPs with perfect hair.
Austin Riley had his coming-out party (.273/.349/.528, 38 HR), swinging a bat with such violence that nearby pitchers filed for restraining orders. Michael Harris II jumped from Double-A to the majors and immediately played like he’d been there for a decade, winning Rookie of the Year and making everyone forget he was supposed to be at least a year away. Spencer Strider struck out 202 batters in 131.2 innings while sporting a mustache that was either an ironic fashion statement or a genuine commitment to looking like a 1980s highway patrolman.
Despite winning 101 games, the Braves lost to the Phillies in the NLDS, proving once again that the baseball playoffs have all the predictability of a cat on caffeine.
1. 2023
The 2023 Braves reached such levels of dominance that they practically needed to apologize to the rest of the league. Ronald Acuña Jr. delivered the kind of season that even video game developers would call unrealistic, becoming the first 40-70 player in MLB history (41 HR, 73 SB). He was essentially playing a different sport than everyone else—baseball+, if you will.
Matt Olson apparently took the Freeman comparisons personally, responding with 54 homers and 139 RBIs, numbers that made Braves fans say “Freddie who?” faster than you can swipe left on a bad dating profile. The offense hit so many home runs they needed to import extra fireworks by mid-season, while the pitching staff continued producing arms like they had a secret cloning facility under Truist Park.
