The Atlanta Braves have a 55-40 record and a cushion in the NL East. On paper, that’s a great season. But if you’ve watched them lately, you know something is off. The offense has been maddeningly inconsistent, and according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, that frustration is real inside the front office.
Alex Anthopoulos, the Braves president of baseball operations, has been open about wanting another playoff-caliber starter since last winter. He never got one. Now, with the trade deadline approaching, his focus has shifted. Rosenthal reports that Anthopoulos is currently more concerned with fixing the lineup than shoring up the rotation — though he’s still weighing internal options for the pitching staff.
Chris Sale has been excellent as the ace. He’s held things together. But beyond him, things get shaky. Atlanta’s starting pitchers rank ninth in ERA, per MLB.com, and the team plans to spend the next few weeks evaluating Reynaldo López, Bryce Elder and Owen Murphy to see what they really have. They’re also monitoring the recoveries of Martin Perez, AJ Smith-Shawver and Spencer Schwellenbach.
The numbers don’t lie, and they’re not pretty
The Braves rank 10th in batting average, 21st in on-base percentage, ninth in runs, eighth in home runs and 12th in slugging. That’s not terrible overall, but the inconsistency has been a problem. Club officials are frustrated with the run production, and one name keeps coming up as the biggest culprit: Austin Riley.
Riley’s OPS sits at .618. That’s the 10th-lowest mark in all of baseball. For a guy making $212 million, that’s a problem. He’s not the only one struggling, but he’s the one getting the most attention inside the building.
The Braves have to make smart moves at the deadline. If the playoffs started today, they’d face the Miami Marlins in the Wild Card round. That’s winnable. But if Sale is the only consistent starter in October, a series against a team like the Milwaukee Brewers could get ugly fast.
Anthopoulos has never been shy about making aggressive trades. This deadline might force his hand again — just maybe not in the way everyone expected.
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