The Braves awoke Friday ranked 26th among MLB’s 30 clubs in starters’ ERA. That’s after being 12th last season, when they won 97 games and a division title, and fourth in 2018, when they won 90 and likewise finished first in the National League East. There are mitigating circumstances for this falloff, but starters’ ERA is among the most important numbers in the sport. For a team that rebuilt around pitching, being 26th is shocking and scary.
Shocking in that the 2020 Braves figured they had enough arms to stock more than one rotation. Then Felix Hernandez opted out and Cole Hamels stayed hurt and Mike Foltynewicz fizzled (again) and Mike Soroka tore his Achilles tendon and Sean Newcomb fizzled (again), and now the rotation is down to Max Fried and … um, Max Fried.