After losing yet another game in rather lopsided fashion on Friday night against the Astros, the Atlanta Braves dropped to 65-82 on the season. That record is good enough for the fourth best lottery odds as things currently stand. Monitoring draft lottery odds isn't exactly what Braves fans' expected to be doing in September.
So many things had to go wrong for the Braves to end up in this less than inspiring position. Additionally, a lot of players had to underachieve their preseason expectations. Let's take a look at some of the biggest underachievers from the 2025 Atlanta Braves...the players you could say really let the team down the most.
These players let the Braves down the most in 2025
Michael Harris II
Perhaps no player failed to live up to their hype as much as the Braves centerfielder. Harris was statistically the worst hitter in all of baseball in the first half. His stellar defense never slumped, but as amazing as the glove is Harris' bat become borderline unplayable at times.
MH2 did rebound to salvage his season with a scorching three week stretch after the All-Star break. Unfortunately, the batting stance change hasn't sustained success for Harris over the past couple weeks. The worrisome trend with Harris is that his fWAR and wRC+ has declined each year since his debut in 2022. Last season, Harris finished with a passable 2.0 fWAR and 99 wRC+, but this season his 0.6 fWAR and 75 wRC+ should have Atlanta seriously pondering if Harris is their centerfielder of the future.
Austin Riley
Riley produced three consecutive 5.0 fWAR or more seasons from 2021-2023 each with OPS' over .850. That production is a big reason why the Braves handed him the largest contract in franchise history. Sadly, Riley hasn't produced to the level he's being paid to do over the past couple seasons. This year Riley had a rather pedestrian 103 wRC+ and just 16 homers in 102 games played.
Riley's surface level numbers are fine, and he's certainly not the biggest issue on the Braves roster moving forward. However, for consecutive seasons Riley will miss the final months of action due to injury. Hopefully 2026 brings some better health fortune, and results for the Braves third baseman.
Raisel Iglesias
Part of the reason Atlanta's season went so sour is the abysmal start they got off to in April. On the rare occasions Atlanta had a lead early in the season, Raisel Iglesias was uncharacteristically blowing saves left and right. Hitters were homering off his slider on what felt like a nightly basis, and the Braves quickly found themselves looking up at several teams in the National League standings.
Iglesias was so bad in the first half (4.42 ERA pre All-Star break) that he was removed from the closer role for a period of time. Thankfully, Iglesias has rebounded in the second half...albeit too little too late.
Ozzie Albies
The beloved second baseman from Curacao has always been a player who outperformed his batted ball metrics. However, at 28 years-old Ozzie Albies seemingly hit an unprecedented falloff. Like Harris, Albies was one of the worst hitters in baseball for the first half of the season. It's no wonder the Braves struggled to score runs on so many nights at the beginning of the year.
Jurickson Profar (And simultaneously anybody who played left field)
Since his return from the PED suspension, Jurickson Profar has actually brought his wRC+ to a respectable 129 mark on the season. Unfortuantely, Profar being suspended for 80 games in the first place is exactly how he let the team down in 2025.
Because of Profar's absence the Braves' had to play Jarred Kelenic and Bryan De La Cruz everyday early in the season. Kelenic has been struggling in Triple-A since April, and BDLC was shipped out rather swiftly. This led to the agonizing promotion of Alex Verdugo.
The aforementioned Verdugo had a great first week then went on to play some of the most unwatchable baseball you could imagine. Verdugo got the bulk of playing time in left field and proceeded to post a -0,9 fWAR in 56 games. Braves fans being forced to watch the black hole of left fielders the Braves rolled out across those 80 games was pure torture, and something we all hope never happens again.
Marcell Ozuna
The big bear was one of baseball's most patient hitters in the early weeks of the season. However, Ozuna's patience quickly became a subtraction of much needed power from Atlanta's lineup. Ozuna's 115 wRC+ is fine for the season, but as a full-time DH you simply need more offense from that position.
Ozuna's inclusion rounds out the noticeable theme of underachievers for Atlanta in 2025...they make up over half of the lineup. This is why Braves fans were going crazy watching this offense fall flat and lose so many one-run games. It's clear the Braves front office needs to make a shakeup this offseason, so that the team's success isn't largely dependent on players who disappointed the team in 2025.