Braves Report: Skubal or nah? Your turn to vote.
Hey! All-Star voting is underway over at MLB.com/vote — and as I see it, your primary mission is to make sure young Drake Baldwin gets his first nod.
After that? You still got Matt Olson and Michael Harris II work to do. And Ozzie Albies. And maybe Mr. Acuña? Heck, even Dominic Smith and Mauricio Dubón are eligible.
More on the latter momentarily. In the meantime … how’s about some (extremely) hypothetical trade talk?
READY TO GO SKUB-ALL IN?
The question is everywhere all of a sudden: Assuming he’s healthy, should the Braves go all-in and try to trade for two-time reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal?
Our friend Gabe Burns did an enviably thorough job laying out the arguments for either side, so we won’t belabor it here. A brief synopsis, though:
- The Tigers stink and figure to offload Skubal rather than let him walk for nothing at the end of the season.
- With the Braves extremely unlikely to pony up for the mammoth contract he’ll demand in the offseason, he’d be a true rental — and getting him would require parting with multiple prospects, which runs (very) counter to how general manager Alex Anthopoulos generally prefers to operate.
- Buuuut, Skubal would certainly stand to put the Braves in even better position for a deep playoff run.
🤔 So … what do you think about a possible Skubal swap before the trade deadline?
A. Nope. No prospects for rentals, please.
B. Finally! Go big or go home!
C. I’m willing to admit that I’d celebrate the move if it leads to a ring and criticize it forever if it does not.
Get those votes in via the fancy form or shoot an email to tyler.estep@ajc.com — and we’ll make sure AA is kept abreast of the results.
‘I CAN HIT EVERYBODY, MAN’
And now, a dispatch from Braves beat writer Chad Bishop …
The best seasons of Mauricio Dubón’s career were with the Astros in 2023 and 2024. He hit .278 in the former and .269 in the latter, combining for 93 RBIs and 238 hits. Dubón won a Gold Glove in 2023, too.
The back of his baseball card makes those seasons look like the exception rather than the norm. But, as he explained in a somewhat emotional way after Wednesday’s win over Toronto, he knows why he’s now producing consistently in Atlanta — much to the surprise of those outside the clubhouse.
🗣️ “I’m getting a chance to play, man. That’s the thing. Times past, I would get pinch hit for instead of finishing the game. I go 0-for-2 and the next thing you know I don’t have my third at-bat,” Dubón said. “It’s funny because me and my dad we always talk about it. ‘You know you hit righties, too?’ I’m like, ‘Hell yeah I hit righties.’ It’s just a matter of (Braves manager) Walt (Weiss) gave me the confidence to go out there.
🗣️ “I can hit everybody, man. I hit .360, .340, .320 in the minors hitting anybody. When I come here in the big leagues it’s not gonna change. Yeah, it’s better pitching and everything, but I still got it in me. It’s just a matter of getting the opportunity and getting the chance of going out there. I got a chance to play in ’23. Ended up winning a Gold Glove. Nobody has given me anything. I earn everything, every chance, every opportunity that I get.”
Dubón had a three-run home run in the third inning of Wednesday’s win. It came with two outs and runners at second and third, and it was added to the long list of clutch hits the shortstop, left fielder, center fielder and third baseman already has this season.
After hitting just .222 in May, Dubón began June with a bang. Not that he lets any sort of struggles ever get to him.
🗣️ “I’m a very confident guy. Sometimes I hit balls like 100 (mph) — like 105 and it gets caught. Then sometimes you get jammed (and get a hit). It’s a season. It’s a long year. That’s why we play 162. You’re gonna go up and down,” he said. “You wanna hit .350 the whole year, but you know it’s not gonna happen — unless you’re (Giants infielder Luis) Arráez or something. For me it’s just try to deliver. The hits that I get, make it matter.”
Love this dude … and Chad, too. As always, make sure to follow the latter at @MrChadBishop.
QUICK, SOME OTHER NEWS!
🚜 Four Braves farmhands landed on Baseball America’s newest top 100 prospects list. My personal favorite: 19-year-old outfielder Eric Hartman, who is not a “South Park” character but does have 13 homers, an OPS north of .900 and 21 stolen bases for High-A Rome this season.
🤖 Ronald Acuña Jr. had a couple fun moments this week — including when he celebrated a successfully challenged strike call by pumping his hands over his head and flashing a big childlike grin.
- More context: Acuña now has six successful challenges in 15 tries, ranking him 103rd among MLB hitters with at least five challenges, percentage wise.
- And a plot twist: Acuña’s nine unsuccessful challenges are the most by a Braves batter … but his 40% success rate actually tied for the lead among Braves batters with five or more challenges. Smith (2-for-5) is up there, too.
🤕 Injury updates: Catcher Drake Baldwin could return during the next homestand (June 16-21); pitcher Hurston Waldrep routinely hit 97 mph in a brief initial rehab start; and Spencer Schwellenbach still wants to return to the rotation sometime this season.
👋 Why, exactly, did the Braves DFA catcher Chadwick Tromp and scoop up a career .231 hitter? Manager Walt Weiss says he likes the “offensive upside.”
↔️ Weiss said last week that, with Ha-Seong Kim struggling, shortstop playing time would be a “day-to-day thing” … and he wasn’t lying. The breakdown since Friday:
- Kim: Two starts, 1-for-7 at the plate, one RBI.
- Jorge Mateo: Three starts, 4-for-14 at the plate with two homers, four RBIs and four runs scored.
The ubiquitous Dubón got the start on Thursday. And homered again.
Other lineup shuffling details here.
🏆 The Braves gifted Tuesday’s Truist Park faithful with a bobblehead commemorating David Justice’s home run in Game 6 of the 1995 World Series. Justice also relived the title-winning blast with reporters.
WHAT’S ON DECK, IN BRIEF
🗓️ Braves vs. Pirates: Friday through Sunday at 7:15, 4:10 and 1:35 p.m., respectively. All on BravesVision.
Atlanta dropped both series against the Pirates in 2025, and the latter is … actually kinda good in 2026? We’re not just talking about Cy Young Paul Skenes — who pitched Wednesday and won’t make it to the mound at Truist — either.
Pittsburgh sits second in the NL Central and has scored the National League’s fourth-most runs, led by second baseman Brandon Lowe (15 homers) and center fielder Oneil Cruz. As of this week, Cruz was the only player in MLB on pace for a 30-30 season.
- Old friend Marcell Ozuna, meanwhile, is hitting .190 with five homers in 46 games.
In terms of pitching matchups, we’re looking at Martín Pérez (3-3, 2.79 ERA) vs. Mitch Keller (5-2, 4.35); Spencer Strider (3-1, 3.77) vs. Braxton Ashcraft (5-2, 2.77); and Bryce Elder (5-3, 2.63) vs. Bubba Chandler (2-6, 4.89).
Chandler, the second-year big leaguer from North Oconee High School, has been a tad inconsistent (and rarely lasts more than five innings).
🗓️ Braves at White Sox: Tuesday through Thursday, all at 7:40 p.m. and all on BravesVision. Tuesday’s game also simulcasts on your local Gray TV station.
- Like the Pirates, the White Sox are, a bit surprisingly, hovering a few games above .500. But they’re now without Munetaka Murakami, their prized (and powerful) 26-year-old MLB rookie from Japan. He recently hit the injured list with a Grade 2 hamstring strain.
Also: Luisangel Acuña, Ronald’s brother, now plays for the White Sox. The Mets shipped him to the Southside in the offseason trade that landed them outfielder Luis Robert Jr.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
That’s a lot of shirtless dudes, dude.
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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.
