The 2021 Braves stand as the patron saints of slow starts. Atlanta started 19–23 and never surfaced above .500 until August, but somehow won 88 games and the World Series.
It did take the team adopting massive defensive shifts midstream, remaking their entire outfield at the trade deadline and a 21–36 collapse by the Mets to get there, but, hey, the 2021 Braves give hope to all underachieving clubs—even if it means ignoring the 10 slow-starting teams for every ’21 Braves team that never did get untracked.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman pleaded this week for a little patience. In New York, as Billy Beane once put it, that’s measured in the nanosecond between when the traffic light turns green and the guy behind you leans on his horn.
