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Atlanta enters MLB Opening Day awaiting reinforcements for grueling NL East battle ahead
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- Atlanta enters MLB Opening Day awaiting reinforcements for grueling NL East battle ahead
PHOENIX — Atlanta manager Brian Snitker, sitting behind his desk in the visiting clubhouse at Sloan Park for the team's spring-training finale, loves his club, but isn't ready to make any bold predictions.
He believes they should be back the postseason once again, are capable of winning the rugged NL East, and have a legitimate shot at winning their second World Series title in five years.
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But for now, he has one simple wish as Atlanta opens the 2025 season at Petco Park on Thursday against the San Diego Padres .
"Just once," he tells USA TODAY Sports, "I'd like to take a healthy team into the playoffs again just to see what we could accomplish. We haven't had our best players, so I'd like to try and do that again."
They were swept in the best-of-three wild-card series against the Padres, playing without 2023 MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. , 2024 Cy Young award winner Chris Sale , All-Star pitcher Spencer Strider , All-Star third baseman Austin Riley , and switch-hitting second baseman Ozzie Albies only able to hit right-handed after returning from a broken wrist.
They went into the offseason and barely whipped out their checkbook, signing only left fielder Jurickson Profar to a major deal with a three-year, $42 million contract. They let starting pitchers Max Fried and Charlie Morton depart without an offer, reliever A.J. Minter left for the Mets , catcher Travis d'Arnaud went to the Angels, and Jorge Soler was traded.
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Their other splashiest moves were at the end of the camp adding nine-time All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel , catcher James McCann and outfielder Alex Verdugo to minor-league contracts.
Yet, here they were Tuesday afternoon, departing on a 96-degree Phoenix afternoon wearing suits, packing a whole lot of confidence in their carry-on bags to San Diego .
"Obviously, we have the talent," said Riley, who missed 52 games last season after playing 160, 159 and 159 games the previous three seasons. "I'm excited. We've got the pitching. The offense is there. This team is so talented. I think we definitely have the team to do it.
"We just have to stay healthy, that's the name of the game.
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"If we do that, we've got ourselves a chance."
When does Ronald Acuña come back?
Patience will come in handy, too. No team is looking forward to the month of May more than these guys, knowing that Strider could return by late April and Acuña in May.
"The crazy part is that we feel extremely comfortable with what we have now," Harris said, "and then to get an MVP and a Cy Young caliber pitcher back will be huge for this team. I know we lost some pieces, but this is such a confident team. I feel we have the guys to come up and step into those spots that need to be filled.
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"I think we'll be just fine, really, more than fine."
Atlanta failed to win the NL East for the first time since 2017 last year, but it's almost miraculous they even made the postseason. They had six players from their opening-day roster miss two or more months, with Strider's season ending in April and Acuña's in May.
Still, they won 89 games, which was one more than they produced in their World Series year, continuing their postseason streak of seven consecutive seasons.
"We've got a lot of confidence," first baseman Matt Olson said. "Last year wasn't the best for us, but we still won 89 games and we got into the playoffs. Obviously, the goal is to win the World Series, but even in a bad year we were able to grind and get it done. That's a good accomplishment.
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"Now, when we get Ronnie and Strider back, and are at full strength, that's be a great confidence boost.
With the band back together in May, Atlanta truly believes it can play with anyone. Sale and Strider will be one of baseball's finest 1-2 punches. Riley, who averaged 36 homers and 99 RBI from 2021-2023, is fully recovered from the broken hand that ended his season last August.
Matt Olson and Austin Riley look to bounce back in 2025.
Ozuna is back for perhaps his final season in Atlanta hitting .289 and averaging 40 homers and 102 RBI with a .916 OPS the last two years. Albies, who broke his wrist and toe last season, and center fielder Michael Harris, who missed two months with a hamstring strain, are fully healthy. Even with catcher Sean Murphy opening the year on the IL, prized catching prospect Drake Baldwin is ready to step in and help.
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Their rotation has talent beyond Sale and Strider, too, with Reynaldo Lopez (1.99 ERA in 25 starts last year), Spencer Schwellenbach (3.35 ERA in 21 starts), rookie AJ Smith-Shawver and Grant Holmes (3.56 ERA).
Few pitchers in baseball were more electrifying than Schwellenbach this spring, striking out 26 batters with only two walks in 18 ⅔ innings, without giving up home run. He struck out 127 batters with just 23 walks in 123 ⅔ innings in his starts last year, with a 5.52 strikeouts-to-walks ratio, fifth-best by a rookie since 1900. He was also dominant against Atlanta's rivals in the NL East, going 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA in three starts against the Philadelphia Phillies and 2-0 with a 0.86 ERA in three against the New York Mets .
They have talented arms in the bullpen, but there are few certainties, with Raisel Iglesias as their closer and Pierce Johnson as the setup man. Kimbrel, who has 440 career saves, could prove invaluable if he bounces back from his struggles in the second half of last season with the Baltimore Orioles .
"The division keeps getting tougher and tougher," Snitker says, "but you know what, I feel good. There's still there's some question marks like everybody has going into the year with the back end of the rotation and the bullpen thing. But usually, they figure it out themselves.
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"We lost two big pieces in [relievers] Joe Jimenez and A.J. Minter. Those are hard guys to replace because they were just so dependable. They were clean-inning guys and high leveraged guys and loved it.
"But somebody will step up. Someone always steps up. Everything has a way of working itself out. We'll figure it out."
They always do.
Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: When does Ronald Acuña return? Spencer Strider coming back for Atlanta
