How do we feel about Jurickson Profar's return and the Braves' All-Star hats?

Three with the Mets. Then the Marlins, the Mets again and the Phillies.

Not to be dramatic, but tonight’s series opener against New York begins a two-week stretch that could define the rest of the Braves’ season.

Put up a solid record? Anything’s possible. Fail miserably? Time to start asking the really tough questions.

Buckle up.

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP

Credit: Collin Hubbard/AP

Credit: Collin Hubbard/AP

They’ve giving away bobbleheads of Spencer Strider holding his dog at Truist Park tonight. There’s a game, too.

📺 How to watch: First pitch arrives at 7:15 p.m. on FanDuel Sports.

⚾ The starting pitchers: Spencer Schwellenbach (5-4, 3.11) vs. David Peterson (5-2, 2.49)

📝 The scouting report: Peterson, 29, is attempting to one-up what was a career year in 2024. And he’s coming off a complete-game shutout of the Nationals (Schwellenbach’s coming off his own complete game, to be fair).

Potential silver linings:

Austin Riley is 9-for-23 (a .391 average) against Peterson in his career.
Matt Olson has four career hits against Peterson — all of them homers.

TRIVIA TIME

When’s the last time the New York Mets actually won the National League East?

Answer at bottom of the newsletter.

LOOK WHO’S (ALMOST) BACK

Credit: Gregory Bull/AP

Jurickson Profar is on his way back.

He’s been taking live batting practice down in Florida and, per reports from MLB.com and The Athletic, is cleared to begin a minor league rehab assignment as soon as today.

Pending rainouts or other postponements, he’ll be eligible to return to the Braves on July 2.

No one, of course, knows what he’ll look like following an 80-game PED suspension. But any kind production at the plate would mark an improvement.

Eli White, everyone’s favorite flash in the pan, has stopped shimmering. Friday night’s homer against the Rockies aside, he’s hitting just .143 over his last 15 games.
Alex Verdugo? Hitting .203 over the same span.
Stuart Fairchild’s back from his broken pinkie … but you know what to expect there.

Will Profar cure all of Atlanta’s ills? No.

The thing about him, though, is that he’s capable of providing exactly the type of bat the team sorely needs: relatively patient, happy to draw walks and get on base.

Caveat emptor at this point, as far as reading too much into his 2024 stats — but replicating that .280 batting average and .380 on-base percentage would make him a welcome outlier in the Braves lineup.

Frankly, beggars can’t be choosers. And Atlanta’s definitely a beggar right now.

🤔 All that said: How do you feel about Profar’s imminent return? Persona non grata or much-needed relief? A little bit of both?

Shoot me an email with your thoughts, and we’ll round ‘em up for a future edition.

IT’S A MAJOR AWARD

Ronald Acuña Jr. won National League Player of the Week, which presents another excuse to highlight how ridiculous he’s been since his return.

During the week in question, he hit .619(!) with three homers and six RBIs.
In 21 games back in the lineup, he’s slashed .390/.478/.701 and posted a whopping 1.179 OPS — second in Major League Baseball over that span.
Seven homers ain’t too shabby either.

Currently sixth among outfielders in fan voting or not — dude’s absolutely gonna end up at Truist Park for next month’s All-Star game.

THESE HATS, THOUGH …

Credit: Courtesy photo

Speaking of the All-Star game: Major League Baseball unveiled its special edition hats and reader … odd choices were made.

The colors and everything are fine (there’s also a more traditional navy one) — but what’s the deal with that extra panel on the crown? With the stars? Looks even flatter in other photos, too.

It’s giving old school pillbox hat meets Quagsire the Pokemon.

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

Oh, and the trivia answer: 2015.

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