Braves players held a team meeting before Tuesday’s game against the Reds. That contest was postponed because of weather. The Braves continued the series on Wednesday afternoon and proceeded to lose to the Reds again, only it was even uglier than the series opener.
The scheduled second game on Wednesday was called off because heavy rain was in the forecast. Braves manager Brian Snitker didn’t sound thrilled about the prospect of playing two. I’m sure his players also were ready to get on the plane and get away from Truist Park after an awful homestand. Fans who watched the first game surely weren’t eager to stick around for more.
No one is feeling good about the Braves nowadays. Whatever momentum they gathered before the All-Star break was squandered by losing four of five games after it. The Phillies are running away with the National League East. The Braves (54-46) once seemed to be a sure thing to win one of the three NL wild cards, but they began Wednesday with only a 2 ½ game lead over the field
The Braves are leaking oil. There is no easy fix. It’s true that their injury list is long. The list of underachieving players is longer. The wild-card race is tightening. You can see why Braves players decided to meet without the coaches.
Matt Olson didn’t want to divulge details of that summit, including which player (or players) called it or what was the general topic: “It was something we did, something that was productive and kind of leave it at that.”
The Braves didn’t provide much evidence that the meeting was fruitful.
The Reds scored four runs off right-hander Allan Winans in the first inning. The Braves got their deficit down to one run after two innings, but the Reds scored three more runs against right-hander Grant Holmes. Braves hitters loaded the bases twice in the first five innings and got one run out of it. The result was their fourth loss in a row and seventh in the past 10.
Everything is hard for the Braves. Not all of it, or even most of it, can be blamed on injuries. Ronald Acuña, Ozzie Albies, and Michael Harris were scuffling by their standards when they got hurt. Olson, Sean Murphy, and Adam Duvall are healthy but not hitting much.
Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos has been scrambling to patch holes. The circumstances of those transactions reflect the desperation. Three of the players he signed had been released by their previous clubs: Eddie Rosario, Whit Merrifield and Ramón Laureano. The Braves signed Duvall off the street in the spring.
Now Anthopoulos has a list of trade needs that is probably too long to fill with clear upgrades. He’s going to have to prioritize one of them and then hope for the best with the other two.
Should Anthopoulos focus on acquiring a starting pitcher? I think that makes the most sense. Spencer Strider is out for the season. Max Fried’s forearm is flaring up again. Converted reliever Reynaldo López already is showing signs of slowing down. The Braves should add a good arm and try to squeeze out wins in low-scoring games.
Then again, maybe it’s best for Anthopoulos to ride the rotation until the wheels fall off and use most of his resources to acquire an outfielder instead. Acuña won’t be coming back this year. Harris has been out since June 15. The Duvall/Rosario platoon wasn’t working before they had to take on bigger roles. The Braves need a reliable outfielder other than Jared Kelenic.
Don’t forget about the infield, though. The Braves sent catcher Murphy and all four infielders to the All-Star game last season. Now only Austin Riley is producing to expectations, and that was after he was bad for two months. Albies will be out for another seven weeks or so. Shortstop Orlando Arcia’s .585 OPS is last among qualified hitters.
The Braves are looking for something, anything to lift their spirits. There wasn’t much on the homestand. Things are so bad that Olson’s two singles on Wednesday qualify as good news. That ended his streak of 27 games without more than two hits.
“It’s never easy,” Olson said of his slump. “It’s magnified when it’s happening to yourself and as a team, we don’t feel like we’re clicking. Any competitor is going to be hard on themselves.
“Unfortunately, it does nothing for the present day and the future.”
There’s a lot of that going around for the Braves. No one doubts that they are professionals who care. Everyone has seen them perform much better than this. None of that matters so long as they continue their slide from division champs to flirting with missing the playoffs altogether despite the weak state of the NL.
Said Kelenic: “Unfortunately, we’ve had our fair share of people getting hurt and we’ve had our fair share of hitting balls hard with nothing to show for it. But I do know we’ve got a lot of guys in there that are super talented. We prepare each and every day to go out and win the game. I think we’re just focused on continuing to do that, and that’s why the season is 162 games. "
The Braves have played 100 games. They were 19-7 on April 28. They are 35-39 since then. If that pace continues, then the Braves will finish the season with 83 victories. That would be cutting it close on the wild card and, in their current state, it’s not clear if the Braves can even go 29-33 to finish the season.
The Braves are sinking. Transactions on the margins of the roster won’t save them. Team meetings won’t do the trick, either. Anthopoulos is a smart, resourceful GM but even he may not be able to save the flailing Braves.
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