Takeaways from Braves’ first two weeks: Bullpen dominant, offense adaptable
The Braves more than survived the season’s first two-week stretch.
After 13 games in 13 days, the club returned to Atlanta early Thursday morning, winning eight games and taking three of the four series. The Braves were 6-2 at one point before a three-game skid but rebounded to take the final two games against the Angels in Anaheim, California, before their first off day of the season on Thursday.
Thirteen straight games to start the year may seem rare, but the Braves played 14 straight to start the ’22 season (they went 6-8 in that stretch). Still, coming away three games over .500 with a clean bill of health to start this month was by all means a win.
“You know, we talk about confronting the challenges of a major league season, and we got one right out of the gate with that schedule, and the guys met the challenge head on,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said after Wednesday’s 8-2 win. “And sitting here 8-5 after 13? Just a hell of a job.”
The Braves have a brief, six-game homestand starting Friday against the Guardians before the Marlins come to town Monday. Before those games, here are some takeaways from the 2026 Braves so far:
A blazing bullpen
The expectations for the Braves bullpen coming out of spring training were that the group had a chance to be really good. They have been more than that.
“Exceeded it, yeah,” reliever Dylan Lee told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday about those expectations. “Not saying I thought we were gonna be worse, but everybody coming in looks like we hit our stride early. If everybody is doing this the whole year, we’re gonna be in a good spot.”
Lee is one of the few Braves’ relievers who has allowed a run this season along with Joel Payamps, Osvaldo Bido and Didier Fuentes (Fuentes was sent to Triple-A Gwinnett after his lone relief appearance so the prospect could continue to strengthen his arm to return to starting). None of those four pitchers, however, has given up more than a run.
Robert Suárez, José Suarez, Martín Pérez, Tyler Kinley, Aaron Bummer and Raisel Iglesias have yet to be scored upon. That’s equated to an MLB-best 0.82 ERA and 0.73 WHIP, and a .171 batting average against (second in MLB) for relief pitching. The Braves’ pen has only allowed four total earned runs — the Rangers are the next-closest team in MLB, having given up eight.
Lee credited first-year bullpen coach J.P. Martinez for the group’s early success, as well as the returning veterans’ ability to mesh seamlessly with the team’s newcomers.
Starters start hot, too
It certainly makes life easier on the bullpen when the starting pitchers are logging six and seven innings each day.
Braves starters have thrown 71 innings and compiled a 2.29 ERA, the fourth-best in baseball and second only to the Cubs in the National League. That number could have been even lower if not for a rare bad night from Chris Sale on Monday and if Reynaldo López had not been ejected Tuesday after 4⅔ innings.
Those numbers include a start by José Suarez in the season’s first week and another by Pérez. Sale, López, Grant Holmes and Bryce Elder, meanwhile, have a combined ERA of 2.02.
The rotation will be bolstered soon, too, with the return of Spencer Strider from an oblique strain.
Offensively speaking
The Braves have a plus-34 run differential, tied for the best in MLB with the mighty Dodgers. Now, some of that is because of a 17-2 win against the Diamondbacks last week, but having three shutouts from a defensive side helps matters, too.
Catcher Drake Baldwin is off to an MVP-like start with a slash line of .321/.390/.623. Baldwin has an MLB-best 15 RBIs and is tied for the MLB lead in home runs with five.
Newcomer Mauricio Dubón has a team-leading .333 average and Matt Olson has a team-best six doubles.
“Finding a bunch of different ways to score, I’ve said it for a while, that’s what good teams do,” Olson said. “You can’t just rely on one thing, whether it’s small ball or launching homers or whatever. You got to find a way to kind of mix it up and go with the flow of the game.
“You’re gonna go through little ruts — or not ruts, but periods of time where you’re doing one thing great and not doing the other. Just got to be able to manufacture those runs.”
The Braves have gotten off to a winning record without significant contributions from two of their biggest offensive stars, Austin Riley and Ronald Acuña Jr. Those two have combined to go 19-for-84 (.226) with just five RBIs, 23 strikeouts and exactly zero home runs.
The intangibles
There was a melee Tuesday. The Braves held on to win the game afterward. They won the next day, too.
After a three-game losing streak in which two of the losses were by one run, and one came when Sale got roughed up, the Braves got off the mat and won back-to-back games to end their road trip 4-3.
And during the aforementioned incident Tuesday, the Braves watched their manager throw himself right in the thick of the fight, put his head down and bring Angels designated hitter Jorge Soler to the ground. Braves players probably didn’t need any more evidence that Weiss had their backs, but they got some anyway.
He, in turn, was impressed with his club’s fortitude as well.
“Just showing up every day, competing every day,” Weiss said of his team. “Not every game was pretty, it’s never going to be that way, it’s a tough league. But even after we lost three straight, to win these last two games here speaks a lot about our club and the makeup of our club. We got a good team, and they’re made of the right stuff, so we’re going to be all right.”
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