It’s been a brutal opening stretch to the 2025 season for the Atlanta Braves, no doubt. Six wins, thirteen losses (at the time of writing this), and already whispers swirling about the fall of a seven-year playoff streak. But before the panic meter hits full red, let’s pause and dive in.
The Injury Avalanche No One Escapes
When a team starts a season missing its ace and its MVP, you’re not exactly teeing off from the fairway. Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuña Jr. were both sidelined to start the year, a one-two punch that would stagger any contender.
Add to that the departure of Max Fried and Charlie Morton in free agency—a double gut-punch of experience and stability. Reynaldo López undergoing shoulder surgery? That’s just cruel.
Now, were these setbacks unpredictable? Some, yes. Others, maybe not. The López injury, for example, might’ve been foreseeable—shoulders don’t whisper warnings, they scream when it’s too late.
But let’s not forget: every MLB front office knows they’ll lose arms during the grind. The Braves rolled the dice on their young arms. That bet? Off to a shaky start.
The Offense… Or Lack Thereof
And then there’s the offensive stagnation. Matt Olson and Michael Harris II are supposed to anchor this lineup. But both have been uncharacteristically quiet at the plate.
Combine that with Jurickson Profar’s 80-game PED suspension, and suddenly, what looked like a deep, scary offense is barely making noise.
To be fair, Atlanta didn’t do much to pad the offense during the offseason. Betting on Olson bouncing back? Reasonable. Counting on a career-year repeat from a 31-year-old? That’s risky business.
Time Is Still On The Braves Side
But here’s the thing: baseball isn’t football. An 0-2 start in the NFL triggers chaos. In MLB? It’s just noise. There are 144 games left. That’s fifteen full NFL games in baseball terms. This isn’t a sprint—it’s a six-month war of attrition.
Strider’s back. Acuña is on the doorstep. The lineup will heat up, and the arms will find rhythm. The Braves will get better. They’re too talented, too deep, and too experienced not to.
Don’t Sugarcoat The Braves Start
Jim Bowden of The Athletic asked whether Atlanta will maintain their playoff streak or not. He’s right that burying the Braves is an overreaction. But he’s also glossing over some real questions. The front office could have braced for a few of these hits. There were ways to hedge against regression, against injury, against uncertainty.
So while the season’s far from lost, this rough patch isn’t some random blip either. It’s the result of a gamble on depth and durability that—at least so far—isn’t paying off.
Will they recover? Almost certainly. But will it be easy? Absolutely not.
