Unlike most weekends, vibes around the Atlanta Braves are a little bit down coming out of Memorial Day weekend. Losing a series to a division rival like the Nationals can certainly have that effect, but the bigger issue is that the vaunted Atlanta offense looked unbelievably flat for most of the series. Unfortunately, their upcoming road match-up against the Red Sox isn't likely to make that problem any easier to solve.
The Braves have a number of guys dealing with slumps of various durations, including Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies, Matt Olson, and Austin Riley, among others, and the bottom of the lineup is looking less-than-formidable after a couple of untimely injuries. However, the bigger problem is that the Braves collectively have been struggling against lefties, and Boston is set to run out a pair of really good ones this week against them.
Braves' recent struggles against lefties could get exposed against the Red Sox
Overall, Atlanta has only been okay against left-handed pitching in 2026. Their wRC+ of 106 ranks 10th in all of baseball, which is fine, and they have hit some bombs off of lefties. However, a lot of that production against lefties came courtesy of Drake Baldwin, and unfortunately, he is hurt at the moment. Moreover, their performance recently against southpaws has been pretty grim.
The Atlanta Braves have faced 7 lefties over their last 4 losses and those LHP combined to go-
— MattOlsonsBurner (@ChoppinBravos) May 25, 2026
19IP 8H 0R
They are going to face 3 LH starters in Boston plus the best LHR/Closer in the game.
Ronnie, Riley and Ozzie have to get up and gov
Drake, Olson, Dom and Harris…
As ChoppinBravos correctly points out above, the Braves' struggling against lefties comes at a particularly bad time for Atlanta. Ranger Suarez has given the Braves fits for years, going back to his time with the Phillies, and Payton Tolle threw eight innings against Atlanta 10 days ago. Oh, and veteran left closer Aroldis Chapman is still throwing gas and has a 0.51 ERA this season.
Not all of the news is bad. Both Albies and Riley HAVE had success against Suarez in the past, and Tolle isn't infallible and generally throws only 85 pitches per game. If the Braves' lineup can work long at-bats and the righties can do their jobs, Boston IS a team that is in last place in the AL East and have lost three games straight. However, none of that matters if Atlanta can't figure out how to beat lefties again.
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