Atlanta won its third straight NL East title in 2020 and ultimately came within a win of the World Series.
Simply by virtue of these realities, Atlanta fans should have high hopes for their team in 2021. And yet we'll offer a more specific reason: The club's starting pitching should be more reliable this time around.
Though Max Fried and rookie Ian Anderson pitched brilliantly, Atlanta starters finished the regular season with an ugly 5.51 ERA. It didn't help that Mike Soroka (Achilles) and Cole Hamels (shoulder) suffered injuries, while other starters just plain struggled.