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Atlanta Braves: 4 discouraging signs from the Braves' four game losing streak

By Eric Cole |
Houston Astros v Atlanta Braves
Houston Astros v Atlanta Braves / Matthew Grimes Jr./Atlanta Braves/GettyImages
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The last four games for the Atlanta Braves have not been fun as they currently on a four game skid. What has been particularly painful has been that the Braves have had their chances in all of these games to turn them into wins, but a variety of factors have made things not go the Braves way.

At the end of the day, this is a long season and every team is going to have their rough patches. Plus, the Braves have been playing against some really good teams. Sometimes you just get beat. However, here are some of the more discouraging signs from the Braves' current losing streak.

Vaughn Grissom's defense at shortstop

Coming out of spring training, the Braves surprised a lot of people with the decision to make Orlando Arcia their starting shortstop and send Vaughn Grissom (and Braden Shewmake) back to the minor leagues out of camp. However, the Braves looked vindicated for their decision as Arcia was playing well in the field and contributing consistently in the lineup.

However, an injury to Arcia forced the Braves' hand and they brought Vaughn back to the big leagues. At the plate, Vaughn has been completely fine, but his work at shortstop has been...a bit less fine as he has three errors and had a rough series in the field against Houston over the weekend. It is unclear if Grissom can stick at shortstop long-term, but the Braves need him to be more consistent over there at shortstop in the near-term. One thing to note here, Braden Shewmake has been hitting really well over the last week or so for Gwinnett and there isn't any concern about him defensively.

Matt Olson has cooled off

Matt Olson was arguably the best hitter in all of spring training this year and he started the season just as hot as he was hitting tape measure home runs and seemed primed for a huge season.

However, his last four games have been rough as he has just one hit in his 17 plate appearances during that stretch. While Olson certainly was a bit streaky during his first season with the Braves in 2022, one feels as though he will snap out of this funk fairly soon. Unfortunately, this slump couldn't have come at a worse time for the Braves.

Cincinnati Reds v Atlanta Braves
Cincinnati Reds v Atlanta Braves / Kevin D. Liles/Atlanta Braves/GettyImages

The Braves bullpen is banged up and has struggled

I'm going to go ahead and head off the doomsayers here: the Braves bullpen is going to be very good over the course of the season. There are just too many good arms in it for their recent struggles to linger for too long especially when guys like Raisel Iglesias, Collin McHugh, and Lucas Luetge get healthy.

However, this four game skid has featured some highly unfortunate bullpen implosions that cost the Braves some wins. AJ Minter lost two high profile battles with Yordan Alvarez, Jesse Chavez had a bad outing against the Astros, and Nick Anderson struggled on Sunday in giving up a lead as well. Once those key bullpen arms come back, guys can start getting more rest and the relief corps should be fine, but that doesn't make this any less brutal.

The bottom of the lineup has been particularly rough, especially when Ozuna is in

The Braves' injury situation has weighed heavily and that is particularly pronounced at the bottom of the lineup. Eddie Rosario was hitting the ball hard, but that has been less frequent of late and the results haven't been there. Marcell Ozuna is all but a free out in the lineup when he is in there which is the exact opposite of what you want out of your designated hitter. Guys like Kevin Pillar and Eli White have been pressed into service with very limited production.

Again, this is a short term problem. Once Michael Harris II returns, the rotating cast in left field can been culled back a bit. Once Travis d'Arnaud returns from a concussion, that gives the Braves better options at designated hitter especially if they finally stop playing Marcell Ozuna.

Don't worry, everything should be fine with the Braves

All of that said, the Braves are going to be fine. Despite a list of injuries that would have completely decimated most other rosters, Atlanta has still managed to put together a 14-8 start even with this losing streak while remaining at the top of the National League East. Anything can happen over a long season, but this Braves' squad has weathered a tough stretch and once they can get their ideal lineup together once guys get healthy, they will be okay.

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