The Braves are back – here are 5 things to watch this season

April 6th, 2022

Less than a month ago, it was unclear if Thursday’s Atlanta Braves season opener would happen at all.

But on March 10, the owners and players resolved their issues enough to end a months-long lockout. And what followed was a flurry of activity that included key trades, free agent signings and a truncated spring training.

On Thursday night, the 2021 World Series champion Braves play host to the Cincinnati Reds at Truist Park to begin the season. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN and begins just after 8 p.m.

Here are five things to watch:

Championship Celebration

The Braves will continue a recent Major League Baseball tradition of wearing gold-trimmed uniforms to start the season. The defending champs plan to raise their 2021 championship banner on Thursday. Players, manager Brian Snitker and staff will receive their World Series rings on Saturday.

The team also has unveiled a World Champions Burger which features Wagyu beef, lobster and gold-leaf-wrapped Hudson Valley foie gras.

“We ran through a couple variations on that, where we had gold on top of the bun and then we just thought about wrapping the foie gras up in gold,” said Truist Park executive chef Rory Bancroft. “And what better way can you do it?”

Matt Olson’s Homecoming

The Braves said goodbye to longtime first baseman Freddie Freeman over the offseason and made a trade for Oakland A’s first baseman Matt Olson, an Atlanta native.

“Not a lot of people have probably seen him, but he’s an unbelievable player,” said club president and CEO Derek Schiller. “And I expect that he’ll do great things.”

Olson slugged a career high 39 home runs and drove in 111 runs last season in Oakland. He attended Parkview High School in Lilburn.

Attendance

The Braves were second in the big leagues in attendance in 2021 and Schiller says he expects that trend to continue, given the team’s World Series title last year.

Former Braves first baseman Fred McGriff says it’s a great experience to open the season as defending champions.

“The fans love it because when the season starts they’ll be packing the house, there will be 40,000 people every night,” McGriff said. “Because usually that’s when you benefit, the next year after you win the series.”

The Pitching Staff

Atlanta will send Max Fried to the mound for Opening Night against the Reds. Fried was the winner in the Braves World Series-clinching Game 6 victory in Houston last November, throwing six shutout innings. He won 14 games during the regular season in 2021. Charlie Morton and Ian Anderson will round out the top three in the starting rotation.

The bullpen — which was clutch for Atlanta in last year’s postseason — will be bolstered with the addition of closer Kenley Jansen. He has 350 career saves including 38 last year with the Dodgers. Collin McHugh comes from Tampa Bay where he won six games — mainly out of the bullpen.

Can They Repeat?

No team has won back-to-back World Series since the New York Yankees won three in a row from 1998-2000. It was the Yankees who stymied the Braves’ last attempt to win consecutive titles in 1996.

“That’s the expectation here,” said Schiller. “We want to be winning the World Series every single year.”