This recent stretch has not been a banner one for the Atlanta Braves. They have lost seven of their last 10 games, and they are having to just cling to hope they can avoid a sweep against the Brewers on Sunday. There have been real failures on both sides of the ball, but one common theme has been that many of the players Atlanta was counting on after a lackluster trade deadline have come up short.
Some of those players aren't going anywhere. As bad as Austin Riley has looked at times, his contract means that the Braves are going to go to great lengths to try and, at minimum, rebuild his value. However, some other Braves players' futures after this season are very much in serious jeopardy.
Here are the Braves players who are trending in the wrong direction as we approach the end of the season
Grant Holmes
So Grant Holmes has a few things going against him here. Primarily, it is becoming very clear that the elbow injury he rehabbed through instead of having surgery on greatly impacted his ability to miss bats and navigate opposing lineups more than once consistently.
More than that, though, is that Holmes is approaching his last year of pre-arbitration and still has a chance of sticking in a rotation somewhere. With several pitching prospects who are pushing for playing time and Holmes' value to Atlanta being questionable at the moment, it feels like he could get shifted to the bullpen at any moment and find himself on the trading block this coming offseason.
Sean Murphy
Sean Murphy's case is tricky. He is highly regarded as a game-caller, and we have seen him be a stellar hitter before. However, the Braves have one of the best catchers in baseball in Drake Baldwin right now, and Murphy has shown no ability to stay on the field. That Murphy is making $15 million a year through at least 2028, which is a lot to pay a guy who is getting the short end of a catching platoon, is also an issue.
It just feels like once the season ends, the Braves finding a suitor for Murphy and trading him just makes too much sense. Murphy hasn't stayed healthy and has struggled at the plate of late, but the offensive bar for catchers is impossibly low. With Baldwin settled in at this point, the Braves would do well to trade Murphy off for a nice little package of prospects and save some money for some other needs, because things aren't working out for him in Atlanta right now.
Dominic Smith
This isn't exactly earth-shattering, given that Dom Smith hasn't been good since his magical start to the season. Given that he is on a one-year deal right now, no one realistically thought that he would have much of a case for the 2027 Braves' roster unless something really went wrong.
However, Smith’s placement on this list speaks more to the fact that the Braves need to make a real plan at DH going into 2027. Whether that is giving Ronald Acuña Jr. more time there, or finding a new bat to rotate in and help fill the designated hitter spot in the lineup, it is pretty clear that Smith's spot on the roster is going to get an upgrade in 2027 (we hope).
Jim Jarvis
Jim Jarvis had a golden chance to solidify his spot on the Braves roster. Ha-Seong Kim has been hurt most of the year and has not been good at all when he has played. With no other internal shortstop prospects particularly close to the majors, Jarvis had free rein at the position to show he belonged.
The defense has been good, but Jarvis' bat has cooled considerably from his hot start after his MLB debut. With a .564 OPS through 124 plate appearances, it seems to be true that Jarvis will not hit enough to be a primary shortstop. That means the Braves have to get back to the drawing board there once the season ends.
Mike Yastrzemski
The Braves were probably hoping that Mike Yastrzemski would hit enough to play every day and be productive doing so, but the results on the field have been inconsistent at best. While he has certainly had some solid stretches, the fact remains that he is unplayable against southpaws, and his overall numbers (.230/.318/.387 in 111 games) leave a lot to be desired.
With Jurickson Profar officially a bust and not a guy the Braves should welcome back to the team, Atlanta just needs to go out and find a real left fielder at this point. Yastrzemski getting paid $10 million in 2027 will make moving his contract a little tricky, but having a club option for 2028 could entice another team to take a chance on him while the Braves go find a more productive option.
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