The Atlanta Braves have started to see better results as they have won nine of their last 13 games. Sweeping the Mets at home helped them win their third straight series which is something that had seemed impossible until that point given the team's struggles.
Unfortunately, they couldn't make it a fourth as they traveled to Miami to take on the Marlins. Atlanta is in a tough stretch of 13 games against NL East opponents. They had a perfect opportunity to sweep the Marlins and show everyone they aren't going away any time soon. Instead, the Braves' struggles on the road continued to haunt them.
While Atlanta has shown signs of improvement, they continue to struggle to win games away from Truist Park. It has been their main Achilles heel all season. Atlanta is 22-15 in home games while sporting an atrocious 15-26 road record.
The Braves' need to show any kind of consistency on the road and soon
At first, everything was going wrong for this team whether it be the inability to score with runners on base or pitching being unable to get the job done. However, the pitching has fixed itself for the most part. The starting rotation has been solid with the eighth-best ERA (3.62) in baseball. Atlanta's bullpen has shown improvement with a 3.13 ERA over the last ten days, which is the second-best over that span.
The offense has been slightly more productive since Ronald Acuña Jr. returned from the IL, but they're still fairly mediocre. Despite Acuña's return, Atlanta's luck on the road hasn't changed much. This is a massive hurdle that they need to clear before it's too late. They cannot just hope to win every game at home and that be enough to reach the postseason.
Now, they have won two straight road games against the Mets, but they have two games left and it's near impossible to sweep a four-game set especially with the back end of the rotation coming up. The Braves are going to need more production out of the entire lineup.
Atlanta cannot hope their pitchers are perfect every single game. The offense has to do some heavy lifting eventually. That is the only way they're going to be able to string together consecutive wins.
In high-leverage situations, the offense is batting .239 with 12 HR, 21 2B, 135 RBi, and a .661 OPS. On top of that, the Braves are batting .247 with runners in scoring position this season, including a .667 OPS in 640 at-bats.
Atlanta's offense is way too talented to be struggling the way it is. However, they've not been very good this year outside of a few players (Ozuna, Olson, Baldwin, Acuña Jr.). There have been some fans who think hitting coach Tim Hyers needs to be fired for things to change. But the fact of the matter is players need to change their approaches because what most of them have been doing isn't working.
If they can resolve their issues during scoring opportunities, they will easily turn around their ability to win games on the road.