It is fair to say that the Atlanta Braves are trending back towards rock bottom again. After what was an embarrassing 13-0 loss Friday to the Phillies despite Philly throwing a bullpen game, the Braves have lost three straight games and have undone most of the good work they had put in over the last week or two. Bryce Elder was terrible to be sure, but Michael Petersen struggled in long relief on Friday as well leaving Atlanta to consider other options.
Again, there were a lot of factors last night that influenced the outcome including a lengthy rain delay, but that didn't stop the Phillies from going off. The Braves have to reset right now if they want to be anywhere close to relevant this season. Saturday did bring a roster move to help by sending Petersen back down to the minors and recalling Kevin Herget to have a fresh bullpen arm, but that move just isn't going to cut it.
The #Braves today recalled RHP Kevin Herget to Atlanta after optioning RHP Michael Petersen to Triple-A Gwinnett following last night’s game.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 28, 2025
Braves recall Kevin Herget to reinforce the bullpen, but a lot more work is needed
Herget may end up being a fine addition to the Braves' bullpen. He has a reasonable 3.29 ERA down at Triple-A and while he only has one appearance in the majors in 2025, Herget at least has experience throwing in the big leagues and can give Atlanta multiple innings at a time if need be.
However, Petersen wasn't exactly close to being "the problem" for the Braves. They have several highly used relievers that probably shouldn't be entrusted with high leverage situations and the offense looked absolutely dreadful on Friday. At this point, sending Michael Harris II down to the minors and moving on from Ozzie Albies altogether don't sound like completely crazy ideas at the moment. Oh, and the rotation has been ravaged by injuries. Sigh.
Will the Braves actually make substantive changes to their roster here soon? That feels unlikely. Jurickson Profar is coming back from his PED suspension soon and Atlanta likely hopes that will get the offense going again. If not, why exactly would the front office invest what little trade capital they have trying to patch what feels like a sinking ship that has taken on too much water already?