Two years ago, the Atlanta Braves looked like a juggernaut until losing in the Division Series to the Philadelphia Phillies. Last year, they took a step back and lost in the Wild Card. This year’s Atlanta team looks like it may not even make the playoffs. The 2025 team has a lot of the same key players as the last two Braves teams did. What happened? How do the Braves turn things around?
Most of the Atlanta Braves’ core is still the same as it was in 2023 when the team won 104 games and hit a single-season record 307 home runs (tying the 2019 Twins). Matt Olson, Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley, Michael Harris II, Ronald Acuña Jr., and Marcell Ozuna still lead the offense. Spencer Strider and Bryce Elder are still mainstays in their rotation. Raisel Iglesias, Pierce Johnson, and Joe Jimenez are all still in the bullpen. Those are a lot of big names.
On the plus side, the Atlanta Braves added Chris Sale and called up Drake Baldwin, Grant Holmes, A.J. Smith-Shawver, and Spencer Schwellenbach. On the negative side, they lost Max Fried and Jesse Chavez to free agency, DFA’d shortstop Orlando Arcia, and signed Jarred Kelenic and Jurickson Profar. Sale immediately won the Cy Young Award last season. Baldwin has been a solid offensive contributor at catcher since being called up this season. Holmes, Smith-Shawver, and Schwellenbach have all looked promising as starting pitchers.
The negative side of the personnel changes starts with the loss of Fried and Chavez. Fried is a three-time Gold Glove winner who has two top-five Cy Young finishes. He looks like he could add to those totals this year with the Yankees. He is 8-1 with a 1.78 ERA through 13 starts in New York. Chavez was spectacular in the Braves’ bullpen, and he is sorely missed this year with normally reliable Iglesias struggling to close games.
The additions of Kelenic and Profar have not panned out yet. Seattle let go of Kelenic because he could not hit consistently or stay healthy. Those problems have continued to plague him as a Brave. Profar was coming off a career year in San Diego and might have been a good addition to the Braves’ offense. Unfortunately, MLB suspended Profar 80 games (and the postseason) for using a banned substance.
Arcia was designated for assignment by the Atlanta Braves after a terrible start. He hit .194 with 1 homer through 14 games and was replaced by Nick Allen, who the Braves acquired in the off-season from the A’s. Allen was not supposed to be a starter, and he had not fared well as one in Oakland. Arcia was not a great hitter, but he had double-figure home run power and was a solid fielder at short. Allen (.234 without a homerun in 55 games) has not hit much better than Arcia, though his glove has been solid.
The Atlanta Braves’ main problem this season was the same one that brought them down in 2024–injuries. Acuña Jr. had a massive 40-HR/70-steal season in 2023, but then tore the ACL in his left knee in 2024. That cost him most of that season and all but 15 games of 2025, so far. Strider went from a 2023 Cy Young candidate (finishing fourth) to UCL surgery after 2 starts in 2024. Strider is 0-5 with a 5.40 ERA in five starts in his return from that injury this season.
Promising young starter Smith-Shawver is lost for the season after only nine starts due to a torn UCL that will require Tommy John surgery. Albies, Riley, and Harris all missed significant time last year, as well. This year, 2024 All-Star Reynaldo Lopez (starting pitcher) and veteran reliever Jimenez have been major casualties. Who will be next?
Despite all the injuries, the Atlanta pitching staff has still been pretty good, with the exception of Strider and closer Iglesias. The Braves’ offense has not fared as well. They are 21st in runs scored and 18th in batting average. As mentioned above, they have gotten no offense at all out of the shortstop position. Second baseman Albies seems to have lost his power. He was slugging over .500 during his 33-homer 2023 season. That went down to .404 in 2024 and has fallen to .341 this season.
The corner outfield spots have been a disaster. Acuña has only played in 15 games. Kelenic was hitting .167 when he was demoted to Triple-A. In 93 combined games, Eli White and Alex Verdugo have totaled just 2 homers and 24 RBI while hitting a combined .243. The team’s 307 homers in 2023 dropped to 213 in 2024, and the Braves are on pace for just 172 homers this year.
Hitting Coach Kevin Seitzer looked like his job was safe after the monster offensive year the Atlanta Braves had in 2023. He was fired after the 2024 drop-off. The team has not improved under new hitting coach Tim Hyers.
First of all, there is only so much that can be done to prevent injuries. That said, the Atlanta Braves’ starters pitch deeper into games than the major league average. Maybe Manager Brian Snitker needs to go to his bullpen just a hair earlier to cut down on the wear and tear on the rotation’s elbows and shoulders. The Braves need to find another arm for that bullpen, too.
There has also been some friction between superstar Acuña and Snitker over how Snitker has handled players’ lack of hustle, claiming there has been a double standard. Acuña claims he would have been benched if he did what Kelenic did earlier this season–dogging it on a flyball that hit off the outfield wall, only to be thrown out at second base. In fact, Acuña was once benched on a similar play in the past. The question is, why were Acuña and Kelenic not hustling in the first place? Maybe Snitker needs to be a little stricter.
Whatever the case is, effort-wise, the Braves started the season 1-8, and after seemingly righting the ship for a while, they have now lost seven in a row going into Monday’s game. Something has to change if the Braves want to make it out of a tough NL East and snag a playoff spot in 2025.
Snitker’s seat has got to be getting hot at this point. He has too much talent on this team, even with the injuries, to be 27-37 and looking up at the Washington Nationals in the NL East standings. The team is wasting too much starting pitching by not scoring runs and blowing saves. I think the organization may need to look at the possibility of making another change at hitting coach. It is also time for Snitker to find a new option to close out games beyond Iglesias and Johnson until they can return to form.
This team should be winning, and winning for years to come. The front office needs to find some bullpen help and a left fielder (again), but more than anything, the team just needs a swift kick in the pants right now. That will fall to Snitker. If he can’t get the team motivated, it may be his pants getting the boot.
If you love sports, download Stadium Rant from the Apple App Store and join one of the fastest-growing social sports communities. Be sure to follow us on socials too — you can find all our profiles on our Linktree.
