The Atlanta Braves have won six straight NL East titles, and while the Philadelphia Phillies will certainly have something to say about it, they are widely viewed as the favorites to take home the division crown once again.

The offseason additions of Chris Sale and Reynaldo Lopez have been a huge boost to the pitching staff, especially with ace Spencer Strider sidelined for the rest of the season following elbow surgery.

The bigger question right now is the offense, which has been good-not-great after leading the majors in most offensive categories a year ago, and several of the team's top stars are off to slow starts relative to expectations.

Ahead we've taken a closer look at those notable early takeaways from the 2024 season.

Chris Sale Is Pitching Like an Ace

By all accounts, the Braves bought low when they acquired Chris Sale from Boston during the offseason in exchange for young infielder Vaughn Grissom with the Red Sox chipping in $17 million toward Sale's 2024 salary.

After missing the entire 2020 season and then pitching a combined 48.1 innings in 2021 and 2022, Sale finally stayed healthy last year and posted a 4.30 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 125 strikeouts in 102.2 innings over 20 starts.

Those numbers were a far cry from his peak production when he finished in the top-six in AL Cy Young voting seven years in a row with the White Sox and Red Sox, but it was enough to give him some trade value.

Now six starts into his tenure with the Braves, he has a 3.44 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and a 42-to-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 36.2 innings, and his 3.01 FIP and .207 opponents' batting average look a lot more like the ace he was in his prime than the guy we've seen the last few years.

An Offensive Lull

The Braves had baseball's best offense last season, and aside from the addition of Jarred Kelenic in left field to replace Eddie Rosario, they returned essentially the same collection of hitters this year.

Here's a quick snapshot of their 2023 team numbers:

• BA: .276 (1st)
• OPS: .845 (1st)
  
• HR: 307 (1st)
• R/G: 5.85 (1st)

And here is where they rank this season:

• BA: .256 (3rd)
• OPS: .740 (5th)
• HR: 33 (20th)
• R/G: 5.06 (4th)

It would be a stretch to say the offense has been a problem since they still rank among the best in baseball, but they are not head and shoulders above the rest of the pack this year, and that puts more pressure on the pitching staff to pull its weight.

Reynaldo López Has Been One of the Biggest Steals of the Offseason

Once upon a time, Reynaldo López was a top-tier pitching prospect for the Nationals and White Sox, earning a spot on the Baseball America Top 100 list three years in a row in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

He looked like a potential rotation staple for the South Siders in 2018 when he logged a 3.91 ERA with 151 strikeouts in 188.2 innings, but he failed to match that level of production in subsequent seasons and eventually found himself relegated to the bullpen.

The 30-year-old had a 3.27 ERA and 11.3 K/9 with six saves and 22 holds in 68 relief appearances last year with the White Sox, Angels and Guardians, and the Braves inked him to a three-year, $30 million deal in free agency with the intention of moving him back into a starting role.

So far, so good as he has a 1.53 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 36 strikeouts in 35.1 innings over his first six starts, and his 3.03 FIP and .205 opponents' batting average both point to a strong start that is sustainable as the season unfolds.