Last season, there were plenty of opportunities for regression, given what occurred during the 2023-24 season. Almost every player in last year's article regressed in a meaningful way. Auston Matthews, Sam Reinhart, Jonathan Marchessault, Zach Hyman and the Vancouver Canucks regressed in their own significant ways from the previous season. That's not to say they won't bounce back this season.
2024 had a lot of struggle bug-esque moments for the Braves, but one of the big ones was their inability to do... much of anything against Nationals starter Jake Irvin. The Braves and Irvin faced off four times, and while the Braves came away with two victories, the part where they hit against Irvin wasn't very fun. He dominated them in May (Braves won 2-0 late), had an okay start that the Braves lost in June, had a legitimately bad outing in August, and then beat up on the Braves again in September.