"A combination of an injury to Ronald Acuña Jr.," I would argue, has NOTHING to do with our slumping. He missed time already for an injury. Except for a standout 4-day period, Ronald has been a deficiet to the team. Continual picked off, thrown out, low batting avg and defensive issues tell me Ronald's been injured too many times, is worn out and has seemingly lost his "edge". Easy for a multi-millioniare to do on a guaranteed contract.
Riley? Same thing. Both could simply be IR fodder for the remainder of their careers.
Murphy I know is toast.
Kim's deal sucks. If its really a 1-year deal, keep (and play) Mateo and cut your losses on that guy. No offensive, below avg (-3) defense for $20MM?
Yaz isn't providing his .234 lifetime batting average, can't jump (as witnessed in San Fran), can't throw and making $11MM/year? $11.5MM next year?
Then the pitching. Too much to overcome at the trade deadline. Boring baseball that costs WAY TOO MUCH to attend.
The counterpoint to Ronald is even though he wasn't producing, the lineup *was* hitting better when he was in it. He left the lineup on June 9th and that's exactly when the offensive downturn and the losing streak started.
Starting the very next game, they're hitting .204/.250/.306 with 2.7 runs a game.
If it's just a coincidence, which it might be, it's a helluva coincidence
And being clear, I genuinely don't know one way or the other, but it's entirely possible that even though he wasn't directly producing, he was still making an impact on the roster.
Turning the offense around is job #1. This is surprising: Braves MLB ranking in runs per game at end of May: 2nd. End of June: 9th. Braves MLB ranking in ERA at end of May: 2nd. End of June: 2nd (tied).
Lindsay, good analysis of the issues we’ve seen in June. I can only hope that the guys struggling will figure it out and start hitting again. If they all play up to their potential, it would be fun to watch. I was pleasantly surprised at the output of this team in April & May, but June has been devastating to watch, and I believe the team realizes this, they got to get a few wins under their belts and turn it around!
I have had a negative opinion of AA since '22 when he turned his back on Freddie and Dansby. His fondness for early contract extensions has been called brilliant but now we're seeing some real fallout with the likes of Strider and Riley. His propensity to always look to the DFA market to solve a problem has resulted in little success since the transient success with Pederson and Rosario. I must admit he probably has been hamstrung by the office space guy - but... if he can come up with top flight SP (i.e. Skubal, Ryan) and another really good arm for the pen, I will look forward to cheering for the team the rest of this season and will accept what happens without complaint.
One of the things I enjoy doing is reading the headline and before reading the article trying to guess what you are going to say. When I saw the headline: Are the 2026 Atlanta Braves Dead in the Water? My initial thought was, No, but their margin for error is much smaller now than it was earlier in the year. And the real problem is there isn't any immediate help on the horizon. No trades of significance are likely to happen until much closer to the trade deadline which is still over a month away.
While I wouldn't be stunned if the Braves DFA'd HSK, they don't really need the roster spot right now. The money is already a sunken cost. So, you can let him hang around hoping he starts hitting. But I don't thinking running him out there on a nightly basis and hoping it gets better is a viable strategy.
I thought AR27 was going to be good for a long time, but at this point, Austin Riley is hitting .209 with a .289 on base % and a 78 wRC+ so far this season.
I think it's wishful thinking that Waldrep and AJSS are going to ride in on their white steeds and save the day. They could both be contributors. They could both disappoint. And ANYTHING we get out of Schwelly this season should be looked upon as manna from heaven.
AA absolutely needs to add 2 starters at the deadline and a bat.
What good is having one of the best bullpens in baseball if you have 2 starters and your offense sucks?
"A combination of an injury to Ronald Acuña Jr.," I would argue, has NOTHING to do with our slumping. He missed time already for an injury. Except for a standout 4-day period, Ronald has been a deficiet to the team. Continual picked off, thrown out, low batting avg and defensive issues tell me Ronald's been injured too many times, is worn out and has seemingly lost his "edge". Easy for a multi-millioniare to do on a guaranteed contract.
Riley? Same thing. Both could simply be IR fodder for the remainder of their careers.
Murphy I know is toast.
Kim's deal sucks. If its really a 1-year deal, keep (and play) Mateo and cut your losses on that guy. No offensive, below avg (-3) defense for $20MM?
Yaz isn't providing his .234 lifetime batting average, can't jump (as witnessed in San Fran), can't throw and making $11MM/year? $11.5MM next year?
Then the pitching. Too much to overcome at the trade deadline. Boring baseball that costs WAY TOO MUCH to attend.
The counterpoint to Ronald is even though he wasn't producing, the lineup *was* hitting better when he was in it. He left the lineup on June 9th and that's exactly when the offensive downturn and the losing streak started.
Starting the very next game, they're hitting .204/.250/.306 with 2.7 runs a game.
If it's just a coincidence, which it might be, it's a helluva coincidence
And being clear, I genuinely don't know one way or the other, but it's entirely possible that even though he wasn't directly producing, he was still making an impact on the roster.
Acuna is making a plus impact on the roster.
You may be right. Never say never. Just, logically, unlikely.
Turning the offense around is job #1. This is surprising: Braves MLB ranking in runs per game at end of May: 2nd. End of June: 9th. Braves MLB ranking in ERA at end of May: 2nd. End of June: 2nd (tied).
Great arricle. Excellent writing. Super-disappointing question, but it has to be asked.
Lindsay, good analysis of the issues we’ve seen in June. I can only hope that the guys struggling will figure it out and start hitting again. If they all play up to their potential, it would be fun to watch. I was pleasantly surprised at the output of this team in April & May, but June has been devastating to watch, and I believe the team realizes this, they got to get a few wins under their belts and turn it around!
I have had a negative opinion of AA since '22 when he turned his back on Freddie and Dansby. His fondness for early contract extensions has been called brilliant but now we're seeing some real fallout with the likes of Strider and Riley. His propensity to always look to the DFA market to solve a problem has resulted in little success since the transient success with Pederson and Rosario. I must admit he probably has been hamstrung by the office space guy - but... if he can come up with top flight SP (i.e. Skubal, Ryan) and another really good arm for the pen, I will look forward to cheering for the team the rest of this season and will accept what happens without complaint.
One of the things I enjoy doing is reading the headline and before reading the article trying to guess what you are going to say. When I saw the headline: Are the 2026 Atlanta Braves Dead in the Water? My initial thought was, No, but their margin for error is much smaller now than it was earlier in the year. And the real problem is there isn't any immediate help on the horizon. No trades of significance are likely to happen until much closer to the trade deadline which is still over a month away.
While I wouldn't be stunned if the Braves DFA'd HSK, they don't really need the roster spot right now. The money is already a sunken cost. So, you can let him hang around hoping he starts hitting. But I don't thinking running him out there on a nightly basis and hoping it gets better is a viable strategy.
I thought AR27 was going to be good for a long time, but at this point, Austin Riley is hitting .209 with a .289 on base % and a 78 wRC+ so far this season.
I think it's wishful thinking that Waldrep and AJSS are going to ride in on their white steeds and save the day. They could both be contributors. They could both disappoint. And ANYTHING we get out of Schwelly this season should be looked upon as manna from heaven.
AA absolutely needs to add 2 starters at the deadline and a bat.
What good is having one of the best bullpens in baseball if you have 2 starters and your offense sucks?