The 2023 Atlanta Braves have easily been the best team in all of baseball. From a fantastic offense that ranks among the best in MLB history, to a pitching staff capable of taking down any top MLB offense, the Braves have easily been one of the more dominant teams the game has ever seen. With this in mind, just how historically good are the Atlanta Braves? What other teams do they rival for the best team ever? In today’s article, I’ll be taking a deep dive into this historically great team, and what significance they hold among other teams. But first, let’s establish the team.

A Little About the Braves Roster

The Atlanta Braves not only hold one of the strongest rosters in baseball from top to bottom, but they also have the best core in all of baseball, with most of this group being signed to long-term deals. This means that we’ll be seeing a lot of historic runs from the Braves in the near future, as they might be on the brink of becoming MLB’s next dynasty. When you take a look at both sides of the ball, you can see why. The Braves easily have the game’s best offense, and the approach they take is very interesting. The Braves focus more on big hits, and its easy to see how this is a recipe for success. The Braves currently have the second fewest sacrifice bunts, with just 2 all season.

Most of this power and slugging ability comes from the Braves outfield. This outfield is currently one of the best the game has to offer. Ronald Acuña Jr. typically leads the way in this conversation, as he joined the 40/40 club not too long ago, and he has also become MLB’s first 40/70 club member. In addition to a historic 40/70 season, Acuña might end up taking home this year’s National League MVP award. Alongside Acuña, former Rookie of the Year winner Michael Harris III has put together a really solid season, as he’s hit 18 homers with a .354 xwOBA, 113 wRC+, and a 3.7 fWAR. Alongside these two in the outfield, the Braves have seen solid production from Eddie Rosario, and Marcel Ozuna. Rosario has been worth a little over 1.5 fWAR, and with his steady production, he’s a solid piece on this Braves team. Ozuna has been a 36 homer hitter, as well as worth about 2.6 fWAR, with a wRC+ above 130.

When you move to the infield however, this team just gets better. The Braves would end up sending almost their entire infield to the all-star game, as Orlando Arcia, Austin Riley, Matt Olson, Sean Murphy, and Ozzie Albies all took on the mid-summer classic as members of the Braves. Although his production slowed since the all-star game, Orlando Arcia is still providing above average offense from the shortstop position, as he’s posted a 103 wRC+, while also being worth 2.5 fWAR in 135 games. Austin Riley is arguably having a down year for the rate at which he’s been producing the last few years, and I use the term down year very lightly. Riley has still managed to hit 37 homers, a 127 wRC+, and a 5.1 fWAR from the third base position. These numbers are all-star caliber no matter how you spin it, so this being a down year for Riley is even more impressive. Starting on the right side of the infield, the Braves have found elite production from Ozzie Albies at second base, as he’s hit over 30 homers with a 120 wRC+, and a 3.7 fWAR. His counterpart to his left however, has also been on a wild tear this season, as Matt Olson would likely win MVP in any other season. Olson broke the Braves single season home run record, as he’s hit 53 so far this year, alongside a 160 wRC+, and a 6.4 fWAR. The last player in the Braves infield who has had a huge impact this season is their catcher, Sean Murphy. Murphy, another all-star, has hit 21 homers, a 132 wRC+, and a 4.3 fWAR, even after slowing his production after the all-star game as well. The Braves infield has been arguably the best in all of baseball, as they’ve found really solid production from Travis d’Arnaud, Nicky Lopez, and more.

No matter how you look at it, the Atlanta Braves offense has been the best in all of baseball, as well as one of the most rounded offenses of all time. This has led to the Braves being clear World Series favorites, and we haven’t even covered their pitching staff just yet.

The Braves pitching staff has also been really effective this season, which is more impressive when you also consider the names who have been absent for most of the season. Max Fried has been absent off and on for most of the season, as he’s battled a range of injuries that seemingly never ended. Kyle Wright has also spent a lot of time on the IL, which really hurt the rotation. Charlie Morton has also went through his fair share of injuries as well. Nonetheless, the Braves still sent two arms to the all-star game, including strikeout specialist Spencer Strider, and rookie phenom Bryce Elder. Strider has been worth an astounding 5.4 fWAR, while also striking out 274 batters, which is just over 37% of the batters he’s faced. Elder on the other hand, is more of a ground ball specialist, but he’s still been effective with his 3.81 ERA.

In addition to some elite starting pitchers, the Braves bullpen has had some struggles, but still maintains some key pieces as well. The most notable name in the bullpen is by far Raisel Iglesias. Iglesias is currently responsible for the 10th most saves in all of baseball with 31 saves. Iglesias has pitched to a 2.85 ERA, while also striking out around 30% of his opposing batters.

Now that we’ve established some of the integral pieces to this Braves team, we can finally touch on the historical significance of this franchise.

Making History Daily

The 2023 Atlanta Braves seem to be making history so often, its starting to seem like a daily occurrence at this point. While their pitching may be lacking in the historical significance department, their offense is far from lacking.

The 2023 Braves offense currently ranked second all time in team OPS+. While this is an incredible achivement on it’s own, when you see that the only team better than them was the 1927 New York Yankees, who are widely considered to be the greatest offense in baseball history. The 2023 Atlanta Braves being able to stand up against the 1927 New York Yankees, is beyond impressive. The gap between Babe’s Murderous Row Yanks and the Ronald Acuña Jr. led Braves squad is just 3 points, which actually gives the Braves a chance to pass this all-time offense on the leader boards in the final games of the season.

In terms of overall slugging power, the 2023 Atlanta Braves currently come in third on the all-time home run leaderboard, as they’ve hit 301 homers as a team. The only two teams ahead of them? The 2019 New York Yankees, and 2019 Minnesota Twins. The reason this is even more impressive is the fact that 2019 was widely regarded as the juiced ball year, so for the Braves to do this 4 years down the line is incredibly impressive. In fact, 6 of the top 10 teams in home runs came during that 2019 season. When it comes to the top three teams however, Atlanta has been a better all-around offense, as their team OPS+ of 124 is higher than the 2019 Yankees, and 2019 Twins’ marks of 118.

The Braves also possess the highest slugging percentage of all-time, with their astounding mark of .501. This number is ahead of other all-time offenses, such as the second place 2019 Astros, 2019 Twins, 2019 Yankees, and the 1927 Yankees. As far as team OPS goes? The Braves currently rank 4th all-time, only behind the 1927 Yankees, 1936 Yankees, and 2019 Astros. The Braves being able to compete with these all-time teams with some of the best players of all-time is so impressive, and it shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Although they may not be as historic as the offense, the Braves pitching staff has shared their fair share of achievements as well. The Braves currently rank 15th all time in single season strikeouts, as they’ve struck out 1,475 batters so far this year. Most of the teams above them had some of the greatest pitched seasons of all-time, including the 2017, 2018, and 2019 Houston Astros. They also rank 12th in K/9 with 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

No matter which category you look at, the 2023 Atlanta Braves have truly been a force on all cylinders. They might genuinely be one of the best offenses of all-time, as the ability to compete with Babe Ruth’s Yankees is truly spectacular. In addition, the ability to pitch near the level of the 2022 Dodgers, and 2017-19 Astros teams is an incredible feat.

Final Thoughts

The 2023 Atlanta Braves have truly been a force to reckon with in every way this season, and as they move into the Postseason. The Braves feel like they’re destined for a championship run, especially when you see the sheer star power of the past teams they compete with. Whether they actually win the World Series or not, I can promise you that no team should want to face the Braves this year, as they are truly a historical ball club.