The Braves pitching staff has been underrated.
The Atlanta Braves are 6-5 through their first 11 games of the 2026 season, but if you look at the pitching numbers, you would think this team was unbeatable.
Their staff ERA sits at 1.82, which leads all of Major League Baseball entering April 7 and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner wants everyone to know that it's not just the guys on the mound making it happen.
"ERA is a team stat," Hefner said. "We're leading the league right now largely because our defense has played unbelievably well. I have to shout those guys out, because without them we're not where we are. For us, it comes down to getting ahead in the count. If we can live in favorable strike counts and get into two-strike situations more often, we're going to have success."
It's a telling quote, one that shows how Atlanta's pitching staff has been built on a collective effort this season rather than any one arm carrying the load.
And it points to something the Braves have quietly done very well so far, which is playing clean baseball behind their pitchers while the staff focuses on attacking the zone early in at-bats.
Sale Is Setting the Tone
Chris Sale has been the anchor of this rotation and it really has not been close.
The 37-year-old lefty entered his April 6 start against the Los Angeles Angels with a 0.75 ERA across his first two starts, looking every bit like the Cy Young winner he was in 2024.
He took the loss that night, but even that outing featured seven strikeouts in four innings and does not take away from what he has done to set the standard for this pitching staff.
Reynaldo Lopez has also been sharp early on, pitching to a 1.64 ERA while picking up a win.
And Bryce Elder, who struggled during spring training with a 4.73 ERA, has bounced back and given Atlanta some quality innings when the team needed them most.
Behind the starters, Osvaldo Bido has stepped into a high-leverage bullpen role that has helped keep games from getting away from this team.
The Best Part Is Who Is Coming Back
What makes all of this even more interesting is the fact that the Braves are doing this without some key arms.
Spencer Schwellenbach, who was expected to be a major part of this rotation, landed on the 60-day injured list with an elbow issue before the season even started.
Hurston Waldrep has been dealing with his own injury concerns as well, continuing a frustrating trend from last year.
And Spencer Strider, while active and in the rotation, is still working his way back to what made him one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball during 2023.
So when you think about what this staff could look like at full strength, it gets pretty exciting.
Getting Schwellenbach back at some point this summer would give Walt Weiss another legitimate starter to slot into a rotation that is already outperforming expectations.
And Waldrep is another arm that could provide depth when healthy.
The Braves went 76-86 last year and missed the playoffs for the second straight season, so this kind of early pitching success is exactly what the organization needed.
It is still very early obviously, and a 6-5 record is not going to blow anyone away.
But if the arms stay healthy and the defense keeps playing the way Hefner described, this Atlanta team could be a real problem in the NL East as the season moves forward.