Braves Report: Coulda been worse, I guess
Hey y’all. Welcome to a special, season’s end edition of the Braves Report.
It’s officially the offseason in Atlanta and, after today, you’ll cease getting daily emails with Braves coverage. I will, however, continue checking in from time to time — so keep an eye on that inbox.
- You’ll also want to make sure you’re signed up for Sports Daily (all the Atlanta sports linkage you need, Monday through Friday mornings) and The Win Column (my weekly deep dive into things important, odd and everything in between).
But for now, let’s talk Bravos.
PLEASE REPLY, THX
Are you there, Baseball God?
It’s me, Tyler.
I need to run something by you.
It’s a bit of a touchy subject, I know, and your reputation for fickleness precedes you. But I gotta ask:
🥺 Have the Atlanta Braves’ finally paid off their karmic debt?
Sunday’s win over the Pirates closed out another disappointing season — the team’s fourth since that miracle World Series run in 2021. And while I realize you offered up a lifetime’s worth of good juju to make that happen (scrapheap outfielders becoming October eternals, etc. etc.), it feels like we’ve gone a little too hard in the other direction sense.
The early playoff exits in 2022 and 2023 (to the Phillies, no less)? Fair enough. Last season’s rash of injuries? Terrible. Not altogether unusual, though.
Then there was 2025.
I shan’t rehash everything. You know what you’ve done. You crushed any hope from the beginning, with a seven-game losing streak — complimentary PED suspension included. You cooled bats and broke pitchers. All of them.
🥺 But you know what? They took it on the chin and kept going.
Finishing at 76-86 wasn’t in anyone’s plans. Nor was missing the playoffs for the first time since 2017. Then again: There was a point where 100 losses felt like a distinct possibility.
“We just kept playing competitive baseball for six months, 162,” manager Brian Snitker said Sunday. “I couldn’t tell sometimes if we were the ones trying to chase somebody or hold off somebody. I was proud of how they approached everything. It’s a great group of guys in there.”
Snitker — who remains unsure if he’ll return next season — perhaps oversells things a bit. Plenty of dreadful performances we could talk about. Some wounds were self-inflicted (really should’ve bolstered that bullpen before the season began).
If nothing else, though, this team rallied to make things respectable.
🥺 A few random stats that show hurdles, progress or both:
- 71: The total number of players used by the Braves this season, per The Athletic’s David O’Brien. That’s a record.
- 33-31: The Braves’ record since the All-Star break.
- 21-35: The Braves’ overall record in one-run games.
- 86: RBIs from Michael Harris II, who struggled mightily most of the season — and still had second-most on the team. (Matt Olson led the way with 95.)
- 8: The team-leading win tally for … Bryce Elder.
- 18: The number of consecutive saves Raisel Iglesias finished the season with, after midseason struggles.
I guess what I’m saying, Baseball God, is that nobody’s perfect. But the guys are trying.
“We have to anticipate the adversity, injuries, slumps, struggles,” starter Spencer Strider said over the weekend. “And learn from what we experienced in that regard this year, last year and every year. And focus on doing the work in the offseason to put us in position to handle those things when they occur next year because they will.”
See? Already in acceptance mode. Ready to move on.
Shouldn’t you be as well?
🥺 Oh, and Baseball God: Thanks for that whole “Mets collapse and miss the playoffs” thing. Masterful work.
AC-CENT-TCHU-ATE THE POSITIVE
Did you know that’s how they spell the title of that Bing Crosby song? Weird stuff.
Anyway … ready to spread (Braves) joy to the maximum?
Here are a few of your favorite moments from a predominantly dismal season of baseball:
😃 From Claire: “Acuña’s throw from right field to third base!! Have watched it as much as I can and still love every time!!!! It still amazes me!!!!”
- At least five people said this. You know the throw.
😃 From Rodger: “I agree the first thing that came to mind was Acuña’s huge homer on his first pitch back. But more appropriate may be Sale breaking a rib on a great play and Scwellenbach breaking his elbow while dominating.”
- Sir. This is negativity laundering.
😃 From Judy: “Matt Olson hitting in the Home Run Derby at Truist Park representing the Braves.”
- That Hank Aaron tribute during the All-Star game is pretty hard to beat, too.
😃 From Tommy: “DRAKE BALDWIN!!!!!!!”
- Can’t argue with that. More on him momentarily.
😃 From Joel: “On each of three nights, I took one of my grandchildren to a Braves game. It is not so much the game itself that was great, but it was exposing each child to a sport I love and it was a beautiful experience getting to spend alone time with each one. Their ages are 17, 14 and 7. I have four others to share this with. They either live out of town or are infants, so I have to see when that can happen.”
- Aw. This is what it’s all about.
JUST GIVE HIM THE AWARD
Let’s play a game.
Take a look at these two stat lines for two different players.
- Player A: .297 batting average, 19 homers, 64 RBIs
- Player B: .274 batting average, 19 homers, 80 RBIs
Can you guess who they are?
Player A is Michael Harris II in 2022, the season he won National League Rookie of the Year.
Player B? That’s Drake Baldwin in 2025.
Not a perfect comparison by any means, but not far off — and you get the point.
I’d argue Baldwin has actually been more valuable to this year’s Braves team than Harris was in his breakout year.
Putting up strong, consistent offensive numbers while all the stars around you crumble is not easy stuff. And holding down the fort behind the plate, while apparently catching a rookie-record number of pitchers? Yowza.
He is the Rookie of the Year and deserves to be recognized as such.
And as far as BetMGM is concerned, Baldwin has pretty good odds: +175. But he’s not the frontrunner.
That honor belongs to Cubs starter Cade Horton (-275).
- Horton, a 24-year-old righty, put up an 11-4 record and a 2.67 ERA after making his debut in mid-May.
- That includes two stellar starts against the Braves earlier this month.
- Baldwin went a combined 0-for-8 against him, with one strikeout.
Honestly? That’s all quite impressive. The Cubs are more relevant than the Braves this year too.
But I’ll always favor everyday players over pitchers in these types of debates. If you’re into WAR (wins above replacement), Horton’s 2.0 falls shy of Baldwin’s 3.2.
We won’t find out the winner until November. And no matter what, we love the Drake.
GO AHEAD, TAKE A LOOK
If you’re already ready to look ahead, don’t forget we’ve already got the Braves’ 2026 schedule to comb through.
They’ll open at home for just the third time since Truist Park opened (and the first time since 2022).
Just 130-something days until pitchers and catchers report.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
Charlie Morton won’t be back in 2026. Will manager Brian Snitker?
Stay tuned.
Thanks for reading Braves Report. Tell a friend — and maybe give the AJC’s Sports Daily newsletter a shot, too.
Until next time.
About the Author
Tyler Estep hosts the AJC Win Column, Atlanta's new weekly destination for all things sports. He also shepherds the Sports Daily and Braves Report newsletters to your inbox.
