This story was excerpted from Mark Bowman’s Braves Beat publication. To learn the complete publication, click on right here. And subscribe to get it recurrently in your inbox.
ATLANTA — Ronald Acuña Jr. has been cleared to take part in all baseball actions and Spencer Strider rejoined Atlanta’s rotation on Wednesday. This concludes the encouraging information portion of this week’s publication.
There’s actually no method to sugarcoat the Braves’ 5-13 begin. The lineup wants extra than simply the return of Acuña, who may very well be again throughout the first half of Might. Nearer Raisel Iglesias’ tough begin is simply one of many bullpen’s considerations. As for the rotation, Chris Sale made it clear how a lot these first few weeks have “sucked.”
The Braves have had simply 4 worse 18-game stretches to start a season going again to 1901. They had been 4-14 throughout the rebuilding 2016 season and in 1919. They had been 3-15 throughout the 106-loss 1988 season and so they had been 3-14-1 earlier than successful the 1914 World Sequence.
So, you’re saying there’s an opportunity? Listed here are some ideas heading into Friday’s sequence opener towards the Twins.
1. Matt Olson is trending towards one other sturdy season. Ridiculous factor to say about somebody who’s hitting .203 with a .682 OPS? Perhaps. However I’m targeted on his anticipated weighted on-base common, which tells the story of a participant’s season primarily based on high quality of and quantity of contact, not outcomes. Olson ranks sixteenth amongst all MLB gamers with a .418 xwOBA. That is 0.104 better than his weighted OBA. The one 4 gamers who’ve been much less “fortunate” have been Salvador Perez (-0.126), Dylan Crews (-0.118) and Andrew Vaughn (-0.110). Olson’s slugging share (.344) is a MLB-leading -0.249 factors decrease than his anticipated SLG (.593). He’s the least of the concerns relating to the hard-to-watch offense.
2. I assumed Alex Verdugo would possibly be part of the crew in Toronto, particularly with the Braves dealing with right-handed starters on Tuesday and Wednesday. However the Braves waited till Thursday to advertise Verdugo and choice Bryan De La Cruz as a substitute of Jarred Kelenic. I’m unsure Verdugo might be a major improve, but it surely’s not like he must do a lot to be extra productive than De La Cruz and Kelenic have been. It’s a protracted shot, however the one manner the Braves would possibly acquire some worth from the gamble taken on Kelenic can be to let him play day-after-day at Triple-A. Could be a waste of time. Nevertheless it’s an choice the Braves may select to absorb just a few weeks, after they want a roster spot for Acuña.
3. Michael Harris II is off to a different sluggish begin. The numbers present that he has chased just a few too many pitches exterior the zone. However together with bettering his self-discipline, the middle fielder goes to have to search out his swing. His common launch angle has dropped from 7.5 in 2024 to 2.8 so far in 2025, that means a lot of these line drives have been changed by floor balls. Harris’ struggles have prolonged the Braves’ incapacity to compensate for Acuña’s absence within the leadoff spot. It’s a good suggestion to have Ozzie Albies bat leadoff towards left-handed starters. However he has had simply 22 plate appearances towards southpaws and for the primary time he has regarded human towards them. And also you thought the 2024 season was merciless.
4. If new hitting coach Tim Hyers was introduced in to assist the Braves carry an improved strategy to the plate, then we must always have recognized it would take time. That doesn’t imply we must always have anticipated the offense to be the crew’s weakest hyperlink by way of the season’s first three weeks. However implementing a change in mindset and strategy takes greater than three weeks. If you wish to blame somebody for the offense’s woes, it’s much better to level to Jurickson Profar’s resolution to make use of a banned substance than to level the finger on the new worker.
“Hitting coaches get manner an excessive amount of credit score and manner an excessive amount of blame, identical to lots of us on this recreation,” Braves supervisor Brian Snitker mentioned. “I don’t suppose the approaches are dangerous, we’re simply not getting good choices.”
5. The Braves are 3-10 towards groups with a successful file. They cut up a pair of video games towards the 8-10 Marlins and misplaced two of three to the 8-11 Rays. Now, they’ll welcome the 7-12 Twins and 9-10 Cardinals to Atlanta for this subsequent homestand. Profitable 4 of those six video games at Truist Park can be a pleasant morale enhance. The identical may very well be mentioned about successful consecutive video games for the primary time this 12 months.
