Atlanta's Offense Has Farther To Go Than We Initially Hoped

The Atlanta Braves offense has been mired in a late-season slump that could impact the team's plans this winter

President of Baseball Operations Alex Anthopoulos told the media last week that the offseason focus for the Atlanta Braves would be the rotation.

“We had two frontline starters at the time (referencing Chris Sale and Spencer Schwellenbach). So we had that depth. But look, you can never have enough. And it definitely will be a point of emphasis for us this winter.”

Some of our recent conversations over on the Braves Today podcast have been about potential options for the offseason: How do get back to being one of the league’s best staffs without signing anyone for the bullpen in free agency¹, how aggressively to focus on pitching this winter, and if they should have enough money to sign one of the “Big Four” of Dylan Cease, Michael King, Framber Valdez, and Zac Gallen.

But the last few weeks have shown that while the rotation may be the focus of this winter, Atlanta cannot afford to assume that the offense will be fine.

Let’s talk about it.

The post-All-Star Break heater is OVER

Several Braves players got hot after the All-Star Break: Michael Harris II spent about six weeks hitting over .300 and generally being one of the hottest hitters in baseball, while Ozzie Albies and Jurickson Profar started raking.

Those three, plus the consistently solid performance of Matt Olson and Drake Baldwin, at one point had the Braves as one of the most productive offenses in baseball from a run-scoring perspective. For the month of August, Atlanta was 6th in baseball with 149 runs scored, powered by those bats and a top-ten on-base percentage of .326.

Those good vibes are gone.

Through the start of Sunday’s game, several hot Braves have seen their batting averages drop due to some cold stretches - Drake Baldwin’s batting just .128 in September and .219 in his last 30 games, while Michael Harris is ice cold, with a .077 in the month and just a .229 in his last 30.

Even shortstop Ha-Seong Kim, who had three hits and a home run in his first two games after the Braves claimed him off of waivers, has just five hits since and is currently carrying a 71 wRC+ with Atlanta.

UPDATE: This was submitted for publication before Kim picked up three hits with a run and an RBI against the Astros on Sunday.

If anything, some statistical underperformance likely works out in Atlanta’s favor, as they’re more likely to see Kim pick up his $16M player option for the 2026 season. If he performs well next year, the Braves can either negotiate a long-term extension with the Scott Boras client or attach a Qualifying Offer to him and get an additional draft pick if he signs somewhere else.

Where could they add?

I’ve previously advocated for a starting caliber outfielder, one that could rotate through the designated hitter spot with Jurickson Profar and Ronald Acuña Jr. to get those guys some ‘half-days’ on a weekly basis.

But with Harris back to his anemic offensive ways, the Braves would be prudent to find someone who also has the defensive chops to cover centerfield on occasion. Assuming there’s a new manager next year (which is an open question, as we discussed on a recent episode of the podcast), another extended slump for Harris to start the season might not be greeted with as much of a runway as he had this season. Despite batting just .210 with a .551 OPS in the first half, Harris played in 93 of those 95 games with 90 starts. It’s possible a new manager requests that Harris be sent down to Gwinnett for a few weeks to “get right” if they determine the roster has an acceptable everyday replacement.

There are some who believe Eli White could be that player with everyday playing time. He’s shown stretches of impactful offensive play, including a .311 average and two stolen bases across 49 PAs in March and April after being thrown into a platoon role with the suspension of Jurickson Profar.

And White being more consistent on offense would be the best way for the Braves to fill this potential role - this winter’s free agent class is not very deep at any position up the middle, with centerfield featuring either inconsistent offensive players like Cedric Mullins, defensively flawed players like Trent Grisham, or guys attempting to parlay either past performance (Cody Bellinger, Luis Robert Jr.) or a hot stretch run (Harrison Bader, who has hit .352 since being traded to the Philadlephia Phillies) into a massive payday.

One potential option is to find a utilityman who has spent time in centerfield this season. That is potentially a path to also having more infield depth, although this isn’t a very deep group either, since it involves defense up-the-middle. Willi Castro, traded from the Minnesota Twins to the Chicago Cubs at the deadline, has made six appearances in centerfield as part of a 72-outfield start campaign. Having played seven positions on the diamond (everything but catcher and first base), he likely will not be cheap, but there are budget options available, as well. Jorge Mateo has more than 100 career stolen bases and experience at seven different positions, but he’s also a career .222 hitter during his career with the Orioles.

Barring a splash on Harrison Bader, who has a career batting average 102 points below his hot 37-game stretch with the Phillies since the trade deadline, there aren’t a lot of slam dunk offensive contributors in Atlanta’s likely price range. A corner outfielder plus another year of Eli White might be the way Atlanta goes this winter.

Do they need to add to the bullpen?

This all depends on Reynaldo López. We got reporting from Friday night that he is now open to moving to the bullpen if the team needs him to, although his preference is to remain as a starter.

With the return of Joe Jiménez and the potential addition of López, the Braves might decide that they are okay on the high-leverage side of the pen. Those two joining the existing group of Dylan Lee, Pierce Johnson, and Tyler Kinley would give the Braves a quintet of high-leverage relievers. López would slot into the closer role in this scenario, although a re-signing of Raisel Iglesias to a discounted deal for 2026 would solve a lot of the questions about Atlanta’s backend depth.

Joey Wentz and potentially Grant Holmes (if his UCL rehab goes well and he’s not needed in the rotation) would give Atlanta two sources of quality length out of the pen, as well as spot starters on the roster were someone to be scratched unexpectedly just hours before game time.

Counting on both Holmes and López in the pen, however, necessitates at least one and more than likely two signings/trade acquisitions for the rotation, however. We’re going to be breaking down both the “Big Four” free agent starters, the best of the depth options, and potential trade targets once the offseason officially gets here.

But unlike the impression left by the comments of Anthopoulos last week, it’s clear that the Braves can’t solely focus on pitching this winter. Some sort of offensive reinforcements are needed, even if Austin Riley (sports hernia) and Sean Murphy (hip) are fully recovered and performing off of their respective surgeries.

The rest of the offense has been just too inconsistent to ‘run it back’.

1. The assumption here was that they re-signed Raisel Iglesias, but didn’t bring in any free agents from outside the organization.