By: Colin Lacy

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Just barely into March, and it already feels as if the Braves have been put through the ringer with unwelcome news as the organization works through spring training in North Port, Florida.

First it began with newly re-signed shortstop Ha-Seong Kim sustaining a finger injury in January that will keep him sidelined until May.

Soon after flocking to the Grapefruit League, right-handed pitchers Hurston Waldrep and Spencer Schwellenbach went down with injuries that required different arthroscopic surgeries on each. That will have two of the potential five man starting rotation sidelined until at least the summer.

Then as the squad was getting into the swing of things and the calendar turned to March, another bombshell was dropped when Jurickson Profar was popped with performance enhancements for the second consecutive season, and this time (barring an appeal from the MLB Player’s Association) Profar will miss the entirety of the 2026 season.

So, before questions are answered and roles are solidified from camp, Atlanta has lost two starting pitchers and a bat that was expected to be in the top four hitters of the lineup.

After you digest that predicament, I believe that puts the Braves safely as the team that has the most questions to answer going into the 2026 campaign. However, with all of those questions, there are some potential answers within arm’s reach.

After a disappointing season last year, the Braves still have a number of high-level pieces in the mix. It wouldn’t surprise anyone to have three All-Stars in the lineup with Ronald Acuna Jr, Austin Riley, and Drake Baldwin.

In addition, there are a number of players that have severely underachieved recently, and if Atlanta is able to get Ozzie Albies, Michael Harris II, and Matt Olson back to even close to their average career year, the Braves have an impressive lineup.

With that combination of talent and newly signed pieces of Mike Yastrzemski and Mauricio Dubon, the frontline of the Braves offense could be fine (albeit with very little depth coming from the bench).

On the pitching side, while there are many questions floating around the rotation, the firemen coming from the bullpen could be the best collection in baseball. The biggest addition of the offseason is signing Robert Suarez to bolster the back end of the bullpen in a big way.

Suarez has recorded 77 saves in his four-year big-league career including 40 in 2025 with San Diego. The Braves also re-signed Raisel Iglesias to return as the teams closer which puts Suarez in the 8^th inning role.

Another bright spot for the Braves has been the early returns that have been spied around North Port with Spencer Strider getting back to normal.

Last season when Strider returned from injury, the velocity and hence the productivity was extremely down.

On the contrary, in spring training shows that Strider’s velo is mostly back (up to 97 already), which is an unbelievably encouraging site for Spencer who expects to slot into the #2 spot in the rotation behind Chris Sale. Reynaldo Lopez and Grant Holmes are expected to be at full force for the season and factor into the rotation in some fashion.

Then comes the last spot (or two) that will be up for grabs. Bryce Elder looks to be the front runner for the vacancy with Joey Wentz and Martin Perez trying to make a push to break camp with the club.

The Braves are an extremely difficult team to get a read on entering the season. On one hand, you could realistically make a case for the Braves winning 100 games and destined for the top of the NL East.

On the other hand, it feels like Atlanta is relying on the best-case scenario from here on out (which doesn’t follow the script for the Braves the past few years).

There is very little wiggle room on any front for this team at the present moment. With the Profar suspension freeing up between $15-18 million, options are dwindling for the beginning of the season for additions.

It feels as if the organization is confident with running the current selection out to open the year, then make moves around the deadline to bolster the club. I just hope they’re in a position for that to be able to make a difference.