Braves’ offense, quiet for most of these two weeks, disappears again in Tampa

Bryan De La Cruz struck out on a foul tip. Jarred Kelenic struck out looking.

The Braves left ‘em loaded.

They scored one run in that inning, but it could have — and probably should have — been more. And if you are a diehard baseball fan, you know this: Sometimes the game’s biggest spot happens early and not late. Such was the case here.

In the Braves’ 6-3 loss to the Rays on Friday, this missed opportunity in the first changed the game.

“Yeah, absolutely,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It makes it a different ballgame.”

“You gotta capitalize on that stuff,” Riley said.

The Braves are 3-10. They have not yet won consecutive games.

Starter Bryce Elder pitched well, save for a few pitches. Two of them left the ballpark, which these days is sometimes a death knell for the Braves and their quiet offense.

The Braves’ runs scored in their games this season, in order: Four, three, zero, zero, one, one, five, 10, zero, seven, three, four, three. The double-digit outburst came against the Marlins, who will almost certainly finish as one of baseball’s worst teams.

Any theories on why this offense has been so lackluster through two weeks?

“I wish I did, honestly,” Snitker said. “I wish I knew why. I don’t know. I don’t know why (it happens) when it happens, the other side of the coin, either.”

“I just think situational hitting is number one, and just being able to pass that baton to that next guy,” Riley said. “Hitting Is contagious. Putting up good at-bats, passing on to the next guy. … There are some positives there, but right now the negatives are definitely outweighing it. We gotta continue to fight it.”

Another important score from Friday: 2-2.

Two home runs for the Rays, two for the Braves. The difference: The Rays used theirs to build a lead, the Braves hit theirs as a simple last gasp. The Braves’ homers, two solo shots, came in the eighth inning, which they entered trailing by four runs.

The Braves, who features an offense that is built to slug, have yet to consistently do it. We expected this lineup to ash, but it has not yet happened. This lack of power is among the early-season oddities for an offense that was projected to be one of the best in baseball.

After Friday’s loss, the Braves have only 11 home runs through the season’s first 13 games — tied with a handful of teams for 18th in the sport. The Braves entered the day with none home runs, tied with teams like the Rockies and White Sox.

Yes, two weeks is a small sample. But it’s unfathomable.

We know the Braves as a lineup that can change games with one or two big swings. Without those, it’s difficult to win.

“No, it is,” Snitker said. “It’s hard, with the (lack of) homers, even the hits. Just keeping the line moving when we get something going and get guys on and all that, we just haven’t been able to establish and get anything going there.”

Yes, the Braves on Friday had as many home runs as the Rays. But this Braves team is built to out-slug almost any club in baseball. The Rays’ lineup isn’t full of power threats, so one would assume the Braves have the advantage here — and offensively overall.

In the series opener, it didn’t play out this way.

Elder allowed five runs over six innings. He served up two home runs. Danny Jansen, who was 1-for-26 before this game, hit the first one in the fourth inning. Christopher Morel, who came in batting .241 with no home runs, blasted the second one in the sixth.

The Braves eventually trailed, 5-1. Marcell Ozuna and Ozzie Albies each hit a solo home run in the eighth, but those came too late.

Rewind to that first inning, though. This is when the Braves could’ve made this a different game.

“Bases loaded, one out, we gotta be able to get a run across there, and weren’t able to,” Riley said. “Put a couple in right there late, but just wasn’t enough.”

Riley. Olson. Ozuna. Albies. Eventually, Ronald Acuña Jr. will return. We keep saying it: Isn’t this offense, full of these talented guys, too good to continue struggling like this? Right?

Right?

“I think a year ago today I was saying the same thing,” Snitker said. “It was the same thing. It’s kind of like a carbon copy of what we were going through last year. They’ve done it before and they’ll do it again.”

And the Braves are confident the power will come?

“Yeah, it’s gonna be there,” Riley said. “I trust in these guys. They come in and we work hard every day. It’s there, it’s just a matter of time. We’d like it to be sooner rather than later — I think everybody would like that, too — we just gotta continue to work.”

The Braves might truly believe this, but those are only words at this moment. Eventually, results need to be there.

Many fans will point to a hitting coach during tough times. In this case, that’s Tim Hyers, hired over the offseason to replace Kevin Seitzer. The casual fan wouldn’t know this, but people in baseball do: Hitting coaches often are only a voice.

“Hitting coaches get way too much credit and way too much blame, just like a lot of us in this game,” Snitker said. “It doesn’t have anything to do with that. You get in the batter’s box and you forget about all that, really. I mean, it’s good, you have your approach — which, it’s not bad. I don’t think the approaches are bad, it’s just (that) we’re not getting good decisions.”

Could it be that a team needs time to adjust to that new voice and approach? Riley doesn’t think this is the case.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “I think Tim has been really good. You look at, especially from a game-planning standpoint — starting pitching, I feel like we’re seeing a lot of pitches, we’re getting their pitch count up pretty good. So I think he’s done great, I think it’s just a matter of guys believing in themselves, trusting in their work, and relaxing a little bit and letting it happen.”

Bradley held Atlanta to a run over six innings. The Braves scored once in the first inning, then not again until the eighth.

After the game, one reporter asked Snitker how it was to play in a minor-league ballpark. (Hurricane Milton damaged the Rays’ stadium, Tropicana Field, which forced them to play at the spring training home of the Yankees.)

“This place is going to be interesting all year, I’ll tell you that,” Snitker said. “There’s no leads that are ever gonna be safe. And you can do a lot of damage quick, I know that.”

There was a time when it felt like no leads were safe against the Braves’ potent lineup. The group could erase any deficit or blow open any game. That hasn’t felt like the case since 2023, when the offense set records.

To this point in the season — yes, it’s early — the Braves’ offense hasn’t gotten rolling. The guys have all struggled in similar ways at the same time.

“It’ll go the other way, too, when you get a couple of hits,” Snitker said. “And that’s the thing: We just haven’t been able to do that. We get one, maybe, here and there, but we just haven’t seemed to be able to keep the line moving ever in a game to establish anything.”