Atlanta Braves begin second half with high expectations but question marks

After what felt like a month-long All-Star break, the Atlanta Braves will finally be back in action on Friday night against the San Diego Padres.

A very strong first half from the Atlanta Braves has expectations high as we enter the second half.

They finished the first half with the second best record in the National League having many — especially among Braves fans — thinking that Atlanta could be the team in the NL with the best chance up supplanting the Los Angeles Dodgers.

At the very least, a lot of Braves fans expectations are now for the Atlanta Braves to win their second straight NL East title and advance in the playoffs for the first time since 2001.

And on the high end of the expectations chart, some fans even believe that with a couple of moves this Atlanta Braves team could even reach the World Series this season.

That’s certainly lofty expectations for such a young team and a pitching staff that has two reliable starters in the rotation at the moment.

Not to mention, a bullpen that feels like it’s hanging on with duct tape.

As an Atlanta Braves fan who has ridden through the rebuild years, I will say that it’s nice to have expectations at all entering the second half.

From 2015-2017 we really had no hope entering the All-Star break. So for some to even think that the Atlanta Braves have a chance to win a postseason series at this point in the season is exciting.

But there are definitely some question marks surrounding this team as we enter the second half. As we recently looked at the first half stats, there are a number of areas the Atlanta Braves need to improve on in order to hang on to the division and compete in the postseason.

Let’s take a look at some of those key question marks that will determine the fate of the Atlanta Braves in the second half of 2019.