This is not intended to take anything away from the Braves' 3-0 start. The series in Miami was a ton of fun to watch, especially with the club not trailing at any point. Considering the players had just lost their All-Star closer teammate about 20 hours before the first pitch of the season, it's impressive how energized and different the Braves looked.

If you look around Twitter, Facebook or a number of Braves message boards, you'll see two words all over the place: small ball. Small ball, small ball, small ball. And that approach is indeed what the front office wants to prioritize moving forward. Last year's plan to strikeout and hope for the big homer was largely unsuccessful, and it made sense to change up the philosophy given the remaining pieces on the roster.

Braves are gonna be fun to watch this year. Good chemistry, and finally playing small ball. No more watching 3 hitters in a row strike out — Charles C. Gable (@charliegable_2) April 9, 2015

Braves scored 16 runs in the series, allowed only 3 runs. I love that ratio! Only 2 runs were scored by a HR. Small ball is the way to go! — Chase (Braves 3-0) (@ChaseIngram) April 9, 2015

The Braves are 3-0!! Who needs high priced MLB talent. Small ball baby!! — Stephen Harris (@sharrislaw) April 9, 2015

9 runs not a single HR hahahha! Fuck your HRs!! Small ball Braves!!! #ThisIsWhyWeChop #Braves — Lasalle (@Jamake0602) April 8, 2015

But the reason Atlanta is 3-0 has very little to do with small ball. It's the work of starters Julio Teheran, Alex Wood, Shelby Miller and the near-perfect bullpen, which tossed 11 scoreless innings of three-hit ball.

Pitching is going to be what determines just how good the Braves are, as it will with just about every other team, regardless of the offensive approach. Last year's Braves - as bad as they were at the plate - probably would've swept a series where the pitching staff only surrendered three runs, too.

While it's true the New Braves nearly scored as many runs (16) as they had strikeouts (18) in Miami, small ball isn't the reason the team is undefeated at this early stage, no matter what fans or writers may tell you. It's because the pitching was phenomenal and the defense was equally good. Those two things will be the key for Atlanta if it wants to be in contention as the summer months arrive. No bunt or grounder to the second baseman to advance the runner is going to change that.