The Braves’ 2025 Disaster: What Went Wrong in Atlanta

By: Jonathan Howard, Staff Writer
July 26, 2025

In October 2023, Hannah Keyser – at the time a senior MLB writer for Yahoo! Sports – wrote a story detailing the moves that set up the Atlanta Braves for a decade of potential dominance. At the time it made a lot of sense. Two years removed from a World Series title, the front office locked up many of its core of young players who had helped keep the Braves as a championship contender with club-friendly deals. The group included centerfielder and 2022 NL Rookie of the Year Michael Harris, starting pitcher Spencer Strider, catcher Sean Murphy, right fielder, 2018 NL Rookie of the Year and 2023 NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr., first baseman Matt Olson, second baseman Ozzie Albies, and third baseman Austin Riley.

Fast forward not even two whole seasons later, and everything Keyser – and everyone who saw these deals go down – thought they knew, seems wrong. With the All Star game in the rearview mirror, the 2025 Atlanta Braves are 13 games under .500 (as of July 22), 14 games behind the first-place Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East. A team that was expected to compete for a title and should be looking to fine tune the roster heading into the final two months of the regular season is instead looked at as a willing seller as division rivals Philadelphia and New York have their sights set on October.

How Did This Happen?

The Braves looked bad right out of the gate, losing its first seven games to National League contenders San Diego and Los Angeles and dropping eight of their first 10 games overall. Atlanta was shutout three times during the stretch and scored just one run twice. Since, the Braves have, at best, been only one game over .500, achieving the feat twice by winning bookend games in a three-game set against Boston in mid-May. In fairness, the active roster hasn’t ever looked like it was meant to look like this season. Acuna missed the first 49 games of the season while recovering and working his way back from the ACL injury he sustained last May and the highlight acquisition of the offseason, Jurickson Profar, missed 80 games after testing positive for a banned substance. Spencer Strider returned from elbow surgery only to strain his hamstring and miss a month. As it stands now, starting pitchers Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach, AJ Smith-Shawver and Reynaldo Lopez are all on the Injured List. Sale is expected back in August and Schwellenbach in September. Lopez is unlikely to return this season while Smith-Shawver is done for the year.

But That Doesn’t Excuse Everyone Else …

Sure, the Braves have had bad luck with the roster this season. But that doesn’t exactly excuse everyone else. Acuna has provided plenty of pop since his return from the Injured list and rookie catcher Drake Baldwin has been a revelation. But there are plenty of guys still dropping the ball. Designated Hitter Marcel Ozuna, a key piece in the Braves lineup since his acquisition in 2020, has been miserable this season, batting just .235 after finishing fourth in the NL MVP race a year ago. Baldwin’s play (.284, .832 ops, 11 HR, 41 RBIs) , combined with Sean Murphy’s resurgence (.250, 5 HR, 12 RBIs in July after batting just .207 and .217 in May and June while combing for 4 HR, 13 RBIs), has forced Brian Snitker’s hand, going with a platoon at catcher and DH between the two players, and sending Ozuna to the bench. Albies and Harris are both batting under .230. Riley (.268) and Olson (.274) are hitting the ball well enough … but not well enough to compensate for everyone else.

On the mound, it’s been a struggle as well. Closer Raisel Iglesias is having his worst season since 2019, logging a 4.99 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in 42 appearances. He accounted for 77 saves and 11 wins in 124 appearances for the Braves between the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Last season he had a WHIP of just 0.74. Replacing the injured starters has also been a disaster. Bryce Elder – suddenly one of the team’s most veteran starters, has a negative WAR and an ERA of nearly 6.00. No active Braves starter has a record at or above .500, and only Strider has a WHIP below 1.30.

Can The Braves Turn It Around in 2025?

The short and the long answer is the same – no. Getting Sale and Schwellenbach back would certainly be a boost, but by the time they re-enter the rotation, Atlanta will likely be well out of the playoff hunt. The Braves aren’t rumored to be buyers, so there won’t be any talent injection that can help immediately. Instead, the rumors are only about trading players with expiring contracts, which include the embattled Ozuna and Iglesias.

What About 2026?

Call me pessimistic about the Braves’ chances for a comeback next season. As the previous link details, the Braves will certainly listen to trade offers for Albies, Harris and Murphy – three of the key pieces previously signed to extensions. And with all three playing well below expected performance level at times this season, the expected return might not be as strong as what they may have fetched a season ago. And even if the entire pitching staff currently sitting on the Injured List returns – what can we truly expect? Can Sale, at age 37 (by the time the season begins) reasonably be expected to return to the 2024 form where he finished 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA? Can we expect Lopez to repeat his 2024 performance, in which he won 8 games and recorded a 5.1 WAR in his first season as a full-time starter since 2020? Do we really know enough about Schwellenbach and Smith-Shawver to expect anything better than what Elder and Grant Holmes are currently giving the Braves? There are far more questions than answers for this club, especially considering the lengths rivals Philadelphia and New York are willing to go to secure better rosters.