Braves Report: Hoping for a June boon

Well. The Braves lost another series.

By this point, you know the script: decent enough starting pitching. An offense gone AWOL. A shaky bullpen and a few odd decisions mixed in.

Is this, as columnist Ken Sugiura recently wrote, just who Atlanta is?

We’ll discuss after a quick look at what’s up next.

THE SERIES AHEAD

The Diamondbacks slither into town for a three-game, Tuesday through Thursday set.

📺 How to watch: Games start at 7:15, 7:15 and 12:15 p.m., respectively. All on FanDuel Sports.

⚾ The pitching matchups: In order, probable starters look like …

📝 The scouting report: The D-backs sit at 28-31 and, despite a Sunday win against Washington, have now lost their past four series (sound familiar?).

The Braves took two of three in Arizona back in late April.

SLIDING INTO JUNE

Credit: Butch Dill/AP

Credit: Butch Dill/AP

Today is June 2. The Braves are more than one-third of the way through their season, and they stand at 27-31.

It’s getting mighty hard to argue in favor of an upcoming upswing.

Because the losses are one thing — but the *way* this team is losing is particularly discouraging.

📉 Atlanta’s lost eight of its past 11 games. Seven were by two runs or fewer.

📉 Overall, the Braves have played 34 games decided by such a margin. That’s the second most in baseball.

📉 But they’re just 13-21 in two- or one-run ball games. That winning percentage is better than only two teams: the epically bad Rockies and the very bad White Sox.

Not great, guys.

And Sunday’s game was another enlightening outing: Bryce Elder, returning to the rotation after AJ Smith-Shawver’s injury, gave up three first-inning runs. He then settled down and the bullpen held strong the rest of the way.

But a Marcell Ozuna solo shot was the only offense Atlanta could muster. The team finished 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

“I think we have a lot of good baseball ahead,” Elder said. “Coming up earlier in the year, I didn’t know where everybody’s heads were at after that 0-7 start. But coming up today and seeing everybody, seems they’re on the right track and moving in the right direction.”

Maybe so. They’ve mounted similar charges in recent seasons. Perhaps the calendar will help.

📉 Since 2018, Atlanta leads the majors with 103 victories in June. (The team was just 14-13 last June, but 21-4 in 2023 and 21-6 in 2022.)

Wherever the new juju comes from, the Braves need it bad.

A BRIGHT SPOT

The AJC’s Gabe Burns writes that Spencer Schwellenbach — who struck out 11 Red Sox on Saturday, getting a win on his 25th birthday — is looking more and more like an All-Star.

He hit 100 mph on the radar gun and hasn’t issued a walk in two starts.

😂 Said Schwellenbach: “I pride myself on throwing strikes. I’ve talked about when I was a kid, if I threw too many balls, my dad would be pretty mad at me.”

Happy now, pops?

GIVE ME MORE

Actually, I want to hear from you, too: What’s your bright spot of the 2025 season so far? Drake Baldwin? Ronald Acuña Jr.’s return?

How are you staying positive as the home team muddles its way into the summer?

📨 Shoot an email to tyler.estep@ajc.com and we’ll talk about it in a future edition of the newsletter.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Credit: Butch Dill/AP

Credit: Butch Dill/AP

Kids and baseball are the best.

Thanks for reading Braves Report. Tell a friend — and maybe give the AJC’s Sports Daily newsletter a shot, too.

Until next time.