Struggling Braves Will Have Much Smaller All-Star Game Contingent

By Dan Schlossberg

Last year, the Atlanta Braves sent a club-record eight players to the All-Star Game.

It’s not going to happen again. Far from it.

Newly-acquired starting pitchers Chris Sale, a seven-time All-Star in the American League, and Reynaldo Lopez, a reliever returned to the rotation, are virtually certain to go. Maybe veteran lefty Max Fried, who pitched seven hitless innings in Flushing this season and just went the route with a 9-2 three-hitter at Wrigley Field.

After that, who knows?

Pitcher Spencer Strider, who led both leagues in wins and strikeouts last season, is down for the count following an elbow brace procedure.

Defending MVP Ronald Acuna, Jr. admitted Monday he hasn’t played well this season.Photo byDan Schlossberg

Defending MVP Ronald Acuña, Jr. will probably win the fan election — which is exactly the reason the fans shouldn’t be voting.

At the start of Memorial Day Weekend, roughly one-third through the 2024 schedule, he just doesn’t deserve it. His power (41 home runs last year) has vanished, his average (.337 in 2023) has dropped some 60 points, and even his base-running (a team-record 73 steals last year) has morphed into a myriad of pickoffs — including three straight at one point not too long ago this season.

Catcher Sean Murphy, injured Opening Day, has yet to play and back-up Travis d’Arnaud, once an All-Star himself, hasn’t done much other than hitting three home runs in a game and five over a four-day span.

First baseman Matt Olson, after leading the majors with 54 home runs and 139 runs batted in, has spent most of the first two months trying to put bat to ball without much success. Even his defense has declined.

Olson is not about to get more votes than Freddie Freeman, Atlanta’s former Face of the Franchise who is steady-as-she-goes for the Dodgers.

No way Orlando Arcia beats out Mookie Betts or Cincinnati wunderkind Elly De La Cruz at shortstop. ‘Nuff said.

Austin Riley? First disappointing, then hurt. The fans may vote him in, as with Acuña, but he’d be relying on reputation rather than results. Even Alec Bohm of the rival Phillies would be a better choice at third base this year.

Little Ozzie Albies, the switch-hitting second baseman who seems to be the NL’s answer to Jose Altuve, has a shot at the Midsummer Classic and has been there three times before. But he’s never been a starter and might wind up behind Line-Drive Luis — even though Arraez, a two-time batting champion, has switched from the keystone to DH duties after his trade from Miami to San Diego.

In short, this is not the same Braves team that won 104 games, tied a major-league record with 307 home runs, and produced a stand-alone record with a .501 slugging percentage last summer.

The lone survivor of that juggernaut seems to be Marcell Ozuna, definitely the best designated hitter not named Shohei Ohtani. When Ozuna hit his 14th home run Monday night, he took the league lead away from Ohtani, a two-time MVP who is virtually certain to be the NL’s starting DH in Texas when the All-Stars play July 16.

But Ozuna should go as a sub, especially if he keeps hitting the way he has.

So where do we stand? Sale, who once tied a record by starting three All-Star Games in a row, is a lock. Lopez is likely. Fried and Ozuna are probable. Albies is possible. And both Acuna and Riley could win a fan election that shouldn’t exist in the first place.

So seven, at best. Definitely not eight. And four, maybe five, most likely.

Do the math: that’s about half as good as it was a year ago.

Former AP sportswriter Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is on a talk-and-signing tour for his new book Home Run King: the Remarkable Record of Hank Aaron. He’ll be at Authors Day at the Flemington (NJ) Book Fair Sunday and at the Baseball Hall of Fame at 1 pm June 20. Dan’s email is ballauthor@gmail.com.