Despite the patriotic decor packed throughout Truist Park, the mood was all but festive as the Atlanta Braves were swept by the Baltimore Orioles from July 4th to 6th, tumbling to a 2 and 9 record in their last 11 games.
The series embodied the Braves’season up to this point — the talented roster somewhat marred by injury, offensive inconsistencies and a subpar bullpen has simply struggled to string wins together.
This series was in fact so 2025 Atlanta Braves that each game perfectly highlighted one of these big three issues.
On Independence Day, Atlanta’s failure to score from multiple promising situations led to a narrow 3-2 loss. In the second inning, a walk and a hit-by-pitch were followed by a strike-out, pop-up and strike-out — 0 runs. In the third, a single and a double preceded a strike-out and a fly-out — 0 runs. In Major League Baseball, consistently leaving runs on the table is a recipe for failure, and Atlanta is learning this lesson repeatedly.
The next day was a scorcher at Truist, 91 degrees and sunny, and the Braves’ bats actually got hot. This time, however, the bullpen kept running into trouble. The rare offensive performance was squandered in a 9-6 extra-innings loss.
To close it out on Sunday the 6th, the unpredictable offense reverted to type, and Baltimore squeaked out a 2-1 victory. Sweep complete. The Braves are now 39-50, 13.5 games back from the division leading Phillies as the all-star break, in Atlanta, looms.
So — negativity aside — where can the Braves look next? One option is to enter an experimental “baseball lab” mode, tinkering with ideas to prepare for next season. One may look at this as a nice way of admitting this season is over, but the idea has merit: Atlanta is +1000 to make the playoffs this year — there really is nothing to lose.
Popular causes include more aggressive promotion of prospects from minor league affiliates in Gwinnett, Mississippi, Rome and Augusta. The same pipeline through which stars Spencer Strider, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Spence Schwellenbach rose could well give the Braves the boost they need moving forward.
Another question that could be answered in the lab, raised by Battery Power, SB Nation’s Braves Fan Community:
“Can anyone on the team play a different position? If they can’t, cool, you learned something.”
It’s uncertain whether manager Brian Snitker will genuinely heed calls to play infielders in the outfield, but the moral of the story is this: the Braves have reached the “why not” point in the season remarkably early, but it could allow them the time they need to stumble upon something special. Until then, however, Atlanta fans may be in for a long year, barring a turnaround of levels not yet seen in the baseball world.
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