How should you respond when your favorite team, a team projected to be one of the best teams in baseball starts 0-7 the way the Atlanta Braves have to start the 2025 season?
In some ways, the disastrous start is hilarious. After coming off a 2024 season where it seemed nearly everything went wrong, it was easy to believe that things couldn't get worse. Yet, just a week into the season, the Braves' big free agent acquisition was popped for PEDs and their All-Star starting pitcher might be out for the season with a shoulder injury.
However, you're probably mostly feeling rage. Many of the losses suffered on the west coast trip were winnable, and there were so many issues with the team's play, it's hard to know where to start.
Yes, you have a right to be furious with the Braves' start to 2025
It's starting to feel like the Braves will never win again. Pitching has been inconsistent, pitching decisions have been puzzling, from Alex Anthopoulos's refusal to fortify the bullpen during the offseason to Brian Snitker going with player who'd later be designated for assignment in a high leverage situation. However, the Braves arms could give up 1000 runs a game and it wouldn't matter.
The offense is anemic. Even without Ronald Acuña Jr., the offense was at least supposed to be formidable with Jurickson Profar at the top, followed by former Silver Slugger winners Matt Olson, Marcell Ozuna, Austin Riley, and Ozzie Albies.
Instead, Profar is now suspended for 80 games, while the rest of the lineup can't score runs.
The club went 29 innings without scoring. Over the next 18 innings, they'd only score two more runs. Even after a five-run "explosion" (which was largely aided by Max Muncy's poor defense), the Braves are slashing .122/.218/.184 with runners in scoring position.Before the season, the new hitting coach, Tim Hyers, preached patience and focusing on situational hitting. That message clearly hasn't gotten through to the offense.
As a team, the Braves have drawn 29 walks, fifth-most in baseball. However, 20 of those walks belong to Matt Olson and Marcell Ozuna. Michael Harris II, Jared Kelenic, Orlando Arcia and Nick Allen, who have all started at least two games, have all drawn zero walks.
Kelenic, Arcia, Tromp, Bryan De La Cruz, and Austin Riley all have strikeout rates over 30% as well. Atlanta's hitters simply aren't giving the offense a chance to score runs and there are way too many uncompetitive at-bats.
In a season where there are two other teams in the division projected to be top-five MLB teams, the last thing the Braves could afford to do was put themselves in a hole from the start.
Sure the Braves have Sean Murphy, Spencer Strider, and Ronald Acuña Jr coming back from injuries, but if the Braves want to be in contention in September, they need to start hitting in April, and they need to do so very quickly.
This was simply not the Braves we were promised.