The Braves’ offensive woes continued Monday in a 4-1 loss to the Reds at Truist Park.
Here are five takeaways from Monday:
1. If one is tired of seeing the Braves’ offense struggle, imagine how the players themselves feel. It was another quiet outing, this time against Reds All-Star ace Hunter Greene, who held the Braves scoreless over seven innings. They managed three hits in the game.
“Hunter Greene, you watch this kid mature over the past few years into what everybody thought he would be,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He’s a really good-looking starter.”
2. Second baseman Nacho Alvarez made his major-league debut, batting second. The 21-year-old went 0-for-4 with a strikeout. In his first at-bat, Greene made a nice behind-the-back snag on Alvarez’s liner that resulted in an out. In his third at-bat, Noelvi Marte made a tremendous play at third base on a 99.8-mph grounder and fired to first for the out.
“It wasn’t the result I wanted, but I went out there and had some fun,” Alvarez said. “That’s all I can control, honestly. I put some good swings on Greene and it just didn’t go my way.”
Alvarez said of Greene: “I didn’t feel overpowered. He got me today. He’s an All-Star. He literally pitched in the All-Star game. But I feel like I wasn’t overmatched, so that’s a positive.”
3. Starter Reynaldo Lopez allowed four runs on seven hits in six frames. Since pitching six scoreless innings against the Phillies on July 7, Lopez has surrendered seven runs on 18 hits in his last two outings (12 innings).
The thought will naturally shift to fatigue. Lopez is a converted reliever who hadn’t experienced a full season’s workload since 2019. The Braves have managed him carefully, spacing out his outings, and that helped him earn an All-Star nod for his brilliant first half.
Lopez has logged 101-2/3 innings after not covering more than 66 innings in any season from 2020 through 2023. But Lopez said he hasn’t felt any different.
“I’ve felt good this whole season,” Lopez said through team interpreter Franco Garcia. “I haven’t felt like there’s been stress or fatigue on my arm. Ultimately, I’m happy that I was happy I at least covered the six innings. That’s always a big objective for me, to not tax the bullpen and be able to get through the six innings and give the team a chance.”
Snitker: “Later in the game, I saw the velocity spike back up. I’m glad he says (he’s not fatigued). I don’t know that he was as sharp today as he’s been. The guys are going to have that. We score five runs, he leaves the game up 5-4. We don’t score, things get magnified. It’s hard for these guys to continue to throw up zeroes. We have to score runs.”
The Reds, who lead MLB in steals, stole four bases. They showed their speed all night, especially with infielder Elly De La Cruz, who tripled and stole a base.
“They’re an aggressive team,” Lopez said. “It feels like everybody on that team can run. I think they all have the ability to turn a single into a double, a double into a triple. It affected me a little bit in the sense that I was keeping my eyes on them, and I was mindful of it, but other than that, not much more. Just knowing that they are an aggressive team and they all can run, so it’s in the back of your mind.”
4. Third baseman Austin Riley left the game early because his wife Anna went into labor. This will be the couple’s second child. The Rileys welcomed their firstborn Eason Michael in April 2022.
“(Riley) wanted to be there; he missed the first one, we wanted to make sure he could be there for the second one,” Snitker said. “So he was on call. Good for him. He came in and played, did everything, knowing this was a possibility.”
5. The Braves dropped to 1-3 since the All-Star break, and they can’t do any better than .500 on this homestand. Instead of surging to begin the second half, it’s been more of the same.
Stat to know
35-38 (The Braves are 35-38 since their MLB-best 19-7 start.)
Quotable
“I’ve experienced it with 1,500 people, not 40,000, so that was pretty cool.” – Alvarez on hearing fans chanting his name
Up next
The Braves will start Chris Sale (13-3, 2.70) in their second game of the series Tuesday against the Reds.
