Braves rumors: Matt Olson discusses replacing Freddie Freeman

There are very few situations in MLB history where a franchise loses a talent like Freddie Freeman and is able to replace him with an equal talent. That was the case when the Braves replaced their franchise first baseman with Matt Olson of the Athletics, who has already surpassed 100 RBIs on the season. Obviously, this kind of replacement has been met with comparisons from all baseball fans, arguing back and forth on who's having the best season.

In a recent interview with Pardon My Take, Olson was quoted saying, "The dude (Freddie) has done so much for Atlanta and like I said, a Hall of Famer, I would be upset as a Braves fan growing up and as a guy who plays for the team, who I want good fans, if they just like kicked him out the door. I'm happy that they love Freddie."

It's a tremendous role to fill in Atlanta, with Freeman's impact on the fanbase potentially being even bigger than his impact on the field. Freddie Freeman was and still is loved by the Atlanta faithful and Matt Olson embraces that. Olson is just there to play his part in winning a World Series, while winning over the fans with his thunderous home runs.

Braves rumors: Max Fried's short start could be cause for concern down the stretch

When the Braves returned Max Fried to their rotation after a lengthy stay on the injured list, excitement and buzz grew around the city of Atlanta. The excitement, obviously, came with returning one of the better pitchers in the entire National League to help them push towards a World Series. But along with that excitement, there was a reasonable amount of anxiety to go with it. Fried had been out for three months with a throwing arm injury. There's obvious reason for concern there.

Fried understood that and responded accordingly in his first start back, firing 6 shutout innings on 72 pitches against the Cubs. In his next start, Fried continued to roll through the first 3 innings, pitching a shutout through 3. Trouble grew in the fourth when a walk, hit by pitch and 3 singles plated 4 runs, promptly ending Fried's day after just 4 innings.

Starting pitching trouble has been brewing in Atlanta and it's a real cause for concern. In terms of starter ERA since the All-Star Break, Atlanta ranks second to last in the entire MLB. Their lineup has been able to carry the load for a majority of the season, but it's still a concern for Atlanta. Can they win it all with a rotation that's struggling to pitch well and pitch deep into games?

Braves rumors: Jared Shuster dominates, could see call up again soon

It's been clear since the All-Star Break that Atlanta's starting pitching staff needs help. As a whole, the Braves starters haven't been bad in 2023, but they have struggled as of late tremendously. Their rotation desperately needs a new face to try to spark it back up and it'll likely be Yonny Chirinos that gets the boot from the rotation to make room for a call up.

Who better to call up than Jared Shuster? He's shown the ability to get outs at the major league level while having the youth to continue to grow as a player. He hasn't had a tremendous year in Triple-A, but his last performance was dominant and he could receive a call up to try to ride the hot hand and continue that dominance with Atlanta.

In his last start, the lefty hurled a 7 inning, 2 hit shutout against the Charlotte Knights. While Shuster hasn't been great at the major league level in 2023, he couldn't be any worse than what the Braves have been sending out there to start games. Their stacked lineup of All-Stars and MVP hopefuls has been able to carry the load for most of the year, but the starters will need to pick up some slack in the postseason.