To say that the Atlanta Braves are off to a disappointing start would be a vast understatement. The Braves 0-7 start made sure if this team were going to return to the postseason, it would require making history. Unfortunately, the Braves have only been playing around .500 ball if you exclude their 0-7 start and this will not cut it.
The weight of this must be taken seriously and requires the Braves to approach the next few weeks of the season with a high level of aggression.
Spencer Strider just returned to provide a boost to the starting rotation and we are getting closer to the return of Ronald Acuña Jr. He will undoubtedly be a huge boost to the Braves lineup, but the Braves simply can not expect to immediately get the MVP version of Acuña Jr., who is coming off of his second ACL tear. Atlanta can not have the mindset that these two stars will be enough to turn things around this season. Here are four things that have to happen and happen fast for the Braves to save their season.
Four Things That Must Happen Soon For The Braves
Brian Snitker Must Step Out Of His Comfort Zone
Whether it is age or the stress of the past few seasons, Brian Snitker’s future remains in question. Considering the veteran’s time in Atlanta, it isn’t surprising that retirement is at least in consideration. Still, Snitker is the team’s leader for at least the 2025 season.
Snitker’s managing demeanor is characterized by a calm and collected approach, some would even say he’s nonchalant. His players seem to follow suit. This is a very successful approach when things are going well but the reality is that things are not going well. Snitker is not overly emotional or outwardly expressive, but it is time for him to show some fire. Snitker has to begin holding his players accountable and he needs to get the message out that it’s time to play with some urgency. Maybe he even needs to have a Bobby Cox meltdown or two and get ejected defending his players over bad calls to try to provide a spark.
We’ve seen signs of Snitker willing to adapt by how he’s dealt with the situation at shortstop and in the bullpen. There is an understanding that this isn’t the team of seasons past, where you can simply trot out the same lineup and bullpen pieces in a predictable fashion. For one of the few times in Snitker’s recent career, the manager needs to be relied on to understand and manipulate the roster while also finding a new method to light a fire in this team.
Chris Sale Must Return to Form
Chris Sale is a gamer who is coming off an incredible 2024 season that made Atlanta’s trade for the lefty look like an extremely good decision. However, as the team has reeled to start the 2025 season, they have needed their veteran pitcher to be a steadying force. Unexpectedly, Sale hasn’t been a part of the solution and has had a rough start to the season.
This has come as a bit of a surprise, knowing how the veteran typically responds to a challenge. While there isn’t any reason for long-term concern yet, Atlanta needs Sale to turn things around. After losing Reynaldo López, this rotation lacks depth and has clear question marks. To be a true threat to turn things around, the Braves need Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach, and Sale to be dependable for the rest of the season and realistically need Grant Holmes or Bryce Elder to begin to exceed expectations as well.
The Braves do not need Sale to be a Cy Young-caliber pitcher again, but they do need quality starts and they need them in bunches and Sale is certainly someone capable of doing that regardless of what lineup he has to face. Charlie Morton and Max Fried are long gone. This team will not turn their season around without Sale turning things around first.
Michael Harris Has to Take the Next Step
Coming off his 2022 Rookie of the Year season, expectations were high for the Braves center fielder in 2023, but Michael Harris dealt with injuries in 2023 and 2024 and never could completely put it together. He has been very streaky so far in his short career. He seems to have one or two hot streaks a year that show he has MVP-type potential. On the other hand, those hot streaks are matched by cataclysmic cold streaks where it looks like he’s swinging a bat with a hole in it.
For example, last season Harris had a 46 wRC+ in May but 150 wRC+ in September and October. This is what you get from one of the most free-swinging players in the league. The frustrating thing for Braves fans is he has exceptional power and athleticism and his upside remains tantalizing.
Unfortunately, Harris is off to another cold start at the plate for the 2025 season, although he just had a 2-4 night with a clutch two-RBI single late in the game in the win against the Minnesota Twins Friday night. While he is one of the best defensive center fielders in the game, and there is no arguing that, he must find consistency at the plate and be the all-star caliber hitter that the Braves organization and fanbase know he can be. Perhaps the issue is something as small as improving his plate discipline.
Cut Down the Strikeouts
In the Braves series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays, Atlanta tied a franchise record for a nine-inning game with 19 strikeouts. Behind the lack of contact, the Braves dropped the game 3-1.
First baseman Matt Olson accounted for three of those punchouts. Olson addressed the team’s new offensive low after the loss. “Sure we’ve got a lot of games left, but we can’t do this s*** forever.” The Braves have consistently had swing-and-miss tendencies. In 2024 the Braves had the seventh most strikeouts in the league, and in early 2025 they are once again in the top 10 for most strikeouts. In 2023 however, Atlanta had the sixth-fewest strikeouts in the league.
Atlanta would finish the 2023 season with 104 wins and put up historic numbers from the plate. Atlanta struggled offensively in 2024 and it has continued early into 2025. Yes, Acuña Jr. certainly plays a factor in this, but this isn’t a coincidence that they thrived in 2023 while cutting down the strikeouts and have struggled for two seasons now at the plate while striking out at an extremely high rate. Of course, it’s easier said than done, but this is a team that instantly becomes a top-10 offense again if they can just find a way to reduce the swing-and-miss significantly.
Main Image: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
