Braves' Biggest 2024 Strength Could Become Biggest Question Mark Next Season

Immediately after the San Diego Padres eliminated the Atlanta Braves with a Game 2 defeat in the NL wild card series Wednesday, ESPN's David Cone mutter the popular loser's cliché.

"They'll be back."

Judging by recent history, it's hard to bet against that being true. They have earned seven straight postseason appearances since 2018. Even without Spencer Strider, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Austin Riley, the Braves won 89 games this year and extended that playoff streak.

They were able to do that behind strong pitching, particularly a strong, deep starting rotation. So, all the Braves seemingly need is the return of their star hitters, and they'll be ready to reclaim the NL East.

Right? Well, it doesn't always work that way. What was Atlanta's strength in 2024 could be the team's weakness next summer.

The Braves led the MLB in ERA behind unexpected performances from 2023-24 offseason additions Chris Sale and Reynaldo López. The front runner for the NL Cy Young award, Sale won the pitching triple crown while Lopez posted a 1.99 ERA across 135.2 innings.

But already in their thirties, it's more likely these campaigns were aberrations than breakout seasons. Sale will turn 36 around opening day next year.

Sale was a 7-time All-Star with the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox. He finished in the top five in Cy Young voting six years in a row from 2013-18. His 2024 season could be viewed as his return to glory.

But it's also just as likely that he returns to his 2019-23 form, where he went 17-18 with a 4.16 ERA.

Maybe he finds the middle between his likely Cy Young 2024 campaign and those years. But even so, that would mean Sale not recording a sub-2.40 ERA while leading the team in innings pitched again.

The same very well could happen with López. He had only posted an ERA below 3.00 once before in 2022, and he had never been an All-Star. It's highly unlikely he comes close to his 1.99 ERA again.

This has to be on the mind of Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos as he faces critical decisions this offseason. Left-hander Max Fried has been projected to leave in free agency, and reliable veteran Charlie Morton could retire. Recovering from Tommy John surgery, Strider still won't be ready to return when the 2025 season begins.

If the Braves score a lot more runs in 2025 like they did last season, maybe it won't matter. But they could have a major regression in their starting rotation.

Braves fans learned a painful lesson with Matt Olson this season -- career years are called that for a reason. They aren't repeatable.

The Braves could unfortunately see that again with Sale and López next year.