Braves believe best baseball is yet to come, but we need to see it

“I think so – because I kind of felt really good coming today (about) coming in, winning another series,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “So yeah, it kind of is. …Yeah, a little bit (disappointing), because I felt like we were going to win the series.”

Instead, the Braves lost Sunday’s game, 5-3, to the Padres and dropped two of three to a team that came to Atlanta on a six-game losing streak. There were some exciting moments in these three games – most came from Acuña – but the series ended on a common theme for the Braves.

They still aren’t playing their best baseball.

Memorial Day, which is Monday, is the first true check-in point of the baseball season. The Braves, who have lost four of their past five contests, have played almost one-third of their games. Usually, you begin learning about a team in this span – though you’ll definitely learn more later in the season.

The Braves are 25-27. You could view their start one of two ways, or both:

“We got a lot of time for things to get really good,” Snitker said. “You know what, we’re OK where we’re at. Everybody wants to be .500 and everything, but there’s so much baseball left. We’re not gonna win the division in May. We’re not gonna win it in June, we’re not gonna win it in July. I’m encouraged that we haven’t played our best baseball yet and we’re hanging right in there.”

Last season, three teams made the postseason after entering Memorial Day with a losing record: The Tigers (26-27), the Astros (24-29) and the Mets (22-30).

According to Elias Sports Bureau, the Braves have made the playoffs six times after going into Memorial Day with a below-500 record, most recently in 2022, when they were 23-25 entering the holiday. The 2021 team, which won the World Series, was 24-26.

At the time of Sunday’s loss to San Diego, the Braves were 8 1/2 games behind the first-place Phillies in the National League East standings and six games behind the second-place Mets. (The Mets hadn’t yet finished their game against the Dodgers.) The good news for Atlanta: The Braves have three games against the Phillies coming up, beginning on Tuesday, and haven’t yet played the Mets this season. There’s plenty of time.

But it’s only plenty of time if Atlanta begins playing up to its potential. Spencer Strider, who’ll start Tuesday in Philadelphia, and Acuña are both back. Reynaldo López is still on the injured list after his shoulder procedure, and he’ll likely remain there for at least a couple more months.

Speaking in front of his locker, Ozzie Albies was told about Snitker’s comments – that the manager was actually encouraged because the Braves hadn’t yet played their best ball.

Better baseball coming?

“Oh, there is,” Albies said. “Way better baseball to be played, definitely. We haven’t been at our full peak yet like we can be, so definitely we can play better baseball. So, looking forward for those games to start coming up.”

Yes, this is the positive team spin you’ll hear. You wouldn’t expect anything different. The Braves haven’t lost 10 in a row or anything. The sky isn’t falling. But they haven’t been able to stay above .500. They’ve been above that mark twice but have continued falling below it.

Their offense hasn’t fully gotten going – and multiple bats have yet to roll simultaneously. The pitching has been good, though. The starting rotation is giving the club a chance to win on most nights, and the bullpen has held firm for the most part.

Sunday brought a common feeling: This was a winnable game. A lot of them have been. The Braves haven’t lost a game by more than two runs since the Dodgers beat them, 10-3, on May 3. That’s nine consecutive losses by one or two runs.

The Braves are close. They aren’t getting blown out. They’re a mistake or two, or a big hit or two, from winning many of these contests.

But losing so many close games is also something a team can regret come September.

“I mean, like you saw (Saturday) and (Sunday), we kept playing hard,” Albies said. “And we gotta keep playing hard. It’s gonna turn around. Once it turns and we have it, then we’re just going to hold onto it and keep going.”

On Sunday, the Braves led, 3-1, in the sixth inning when San Diego’s Gavin Sheets mashed a game-tying, two-run home run off Spencer Schwellenbach. An Austin Riley error put a runner on base to begin the inning, and Sheets blasted a two-out homer to make the Braves pay by hitting a slider low and inside. This wasn’t a meatball, but on an 0-2 count, Schwellenbach could’ve wasted it.

He pitched well … but still suffered damage.

“Yeah, it sucks,” Schwellenbach said. “Offense did a great job getting two runs there and gave us the lead, 3-1. Just kind of gave it back to them. I thought I made a good pitch to Sheets, and he sent it out to right. But I thought my stuff was really good. Just unfortunate that I couldn’t keep them off the scoreboard.

In the seventh, Schwellenbach gave up a leadoff homer to Jake Cronenworth. In the eighth, Manny Machado homered off Dylan Lee. Suddenly, the Braves trailed by two runs.

After Dylan Cease pitched five innings for San Diego, the Braves’ offense had one hit – yes, one – over the final four innings against four Padres relievers. The Padres have a good bullpen, but the Braves’ bats have to be better.

Overall, the club needs to clean it up. On Sunday, Riley had an error. On Friday, Eli White mistakenly ran back to second base on a ball that hit the ground, and was thrown out. Recently, third base coach Matt Tuiasosopo has had a couple questionable sends. These are only a few recent examples.

This disappointing start is not on one person. And these are not massive mistakes. Mistakes happen. The point: The Braves cannot afford those when they’re playing so many close games. A blunder here or there can be the difference in tight games. Easier said than done when baseball is such a difficult sport.

This much is clear: The Braves clearly care. They’re working hard. They’ve displayed good energy, especially since Acuña returned.

But after an encouraging series win in Boston, they dropped two of three in Washington. Then they lost a series to the Padres. Now they head to Philadelphia, which has a talented roster.

Are they more disappointed in the start or encouraged by the room they have to grow?

“I don’t even think that’s on our mind,” Schwellenbach said. “We got 100-plus games left. This is a team of fighters and a lot of really good players, and we know that we should be in every game and win every game. We have all the confidence in the world that we’re going to play better baseball.”