Talk to any Braves player for a few minutes about the team’s impressive start and he will invariably mention the vibe running through the team, the camaraderie, the good feeling in the clubhouse and dugout before, during and after games.
Or, in the common parlance of athletic teams, the good chemistry.
“The chemistry that we have here is great,” center fielder Ender Inciarte said. “We really love each other, and when you’re winning everything becomes easier. We’ve been playing great baseball. It’s been fun to watch from the outfield. I know the fans love it, I know the coaches love it, and we play for each other. We just care about winning. We’ve just got to keep in mind that it’s a long season and we’ve got to keep the same attitude until the end.”
Players on many or even most teams will say publicly that they’ve got good chemistry, but off the record you sometimes hear otherwise. Rolled eyes and innuendo can tell a very different story about a team’s morale and what some players truly think of others, rather than what you hear or read them say on the record.
But that isn’t the case with this Braves team.
Thirty-five games in, they were in first place in the National League East with a 21-14 record before Thursday despite playing the third-most road games (20) in the majors and having a schedule that Baseball Reference rated as tied for second-toughest in the majors.
The Braves and Yankees were tied for the most wins (17) against teams with above-.500 records entering Thursday.
Through all those road trips and tough opponents, all the while breaking in young players and prospects, the Braves have developed an undeniable bond and fondness for one another.
“I see that. I feel it. I witness it,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “You can tell that when they’re playing, the way they play the game. I don’t know that I have a distinct role, other than I’m cognizant of these guys, where they’re at, how they’re feeling. Things like that.
“You have a group of guys that care for each other and like each other. They have each other’s backs and are playing for each other.”
Of course, winning helps a lot in that regard, too. The past three seasons of at least 90 losses had a way of causing tension at times.
“It’s fun to know, especially as a pitcher, to know the team is the best it’s been in a long time,” said Braves pitcher Julio Teheran, who’s in his sixth full season. “We’re having fun here and you can see the difference, especially me, being on the team the last six years. The last time I felt like this was in ’13 in my rookie year and it was fun. I feel that right now we’re playing the same way.”
The Braves have a lineup that features a mix of youngers led by Ozzie Albies, Dansby Swanson and rookie phenom Ronald Acuna, and veterans including Nick Markakis, Freddie Freeman and catchers Kurt Suzuki and Tyler Flowers. Their starting rotation has a resurgent former two-time All-Star in Teheran and a grizzled veteran in Brandon McCarthy, but has gotten a jolt from Sean Newcomb, coming into his own as a frontline pitcher in his second major league season, and from 20-year-old Mike Soroka, the youngest pitcher in the majors.
“Trust in the process, like we talked about,” Swanson said of the influx of young talent coming up from the Braves’ minor league system. “I think it kind of shows the development of guys in this organization and just the scouting and every bit of it. I think it just shows everything. And even more meaningful, everybody’s a pretty good person. When you can combine all that together, good things definitely are going to happen.”
