Hey. Quick question.
Joe Torre and Fredi Gonzalez share the record for most wins in their first season managing the Atlanta Braves. Walt Weiss will almost certainly break it this year … but what’s the number?
Answer is at the end of the newsletter, and here’s a little secret between friends: It’s the first question in our latest Braves trivia quiz.
May you fare as well as a certain third baseman has lately.
FOR REAL THIS TIME?
By Chad Bishop, AJC beat writer
Weiss said what everyone was probably thinking.
“This has been going on for a little while. This isn’t like one of those short spurts,” Weiss said about Austin Riley’s 3-for-4 night at the plate Wednesday.
Weiss knows the “short spurt” of success has been the normal for third baseman Austin Riley in 2026, and that being cautiously optimistic has broken hearts before. Riley had a dreadful first half of the season offensively, and every time it looked like he might turn the corner, another prolonged slump seemed to follow.
That hasn’t been the case of late. Riley is now hitting .292 in the 25 games since the All-Star break. He was a triple short of the cycle in Wednesday’s win over the Mets and nearly had a four-hit night; his fly out in the eighth inning was hit 98 mph off the bat and went 380 feet before Mets center fielder Luis Robert Jr. tracked it down.
- Riley now has 16 RBIs in the second half and six homers during that span (he had only nine home runs in the 95 games before the break).
- His OPS is up to .891 from .618.
- His batting average on balls in play has jumped from .278 to .417.
- And his expected batting average (a metric Weiss pays close attention to) has jumped from .201 to .238.
“It’s been good. A lot better, obviously, and been working really hard every day with (hitting coach) Tim (Hyers) and (assistant hitting coach) ‘DC’ (Darnell Coles) and just trying to simplify things,” Riley said Wednesday. “This game will beat you up, and you can overcomplicate things really quick, and things will spiral really, really fast.”
Riley has been buried at the bottom of the Braves’ lineup for quite some time now, typically hitting in the No. 7 or No. 8 hole. But if he can return anywhere close to the Riley of old, having his hot bat in the bottom third of the order could make the Braves all that more dangerous.
“That’s huge for us,” Weiss added. “Looks like he’s figuring some things out.”
📲 Hope never dies, Mr. Bishop. Thank you. And y’all don’t forget to follow him at @MrChadBishop.
QUICK, SOME OTHER NEWS!
⚡ AJ Smith-Shawver isn’t slated to start for the big league club during this weekend’s series against the Diamondbacks. But he continues dealing for Triple-A Gwinnett (5⅓ one-hit, shutout innings on Wednesday), and Weiss deemed him “certainly on the cusp of coming back to us here sometime soon.”
⚡ Coulda-been Brave Jacob deGrom left his Thursday night start for the Rangers with “tricep fatigue” and may have some imaging done. (Did the Braves end up dodging a bullet?)
⚡ Have I mentioned here the magnolia tree that stood near the site of Ponce de Leon Park (the former home of the Atlanta Crackers and Black Crackers) for many, many decades recently fell? Either way, it was discussed on the latest episode of the AJC’s “Flagship” podcast. Give ‘er a listen!
⚡ Jorge Mateo, DFA’d on Aug. 3 amid the Braves’ sudden logjam at shortstop, signed on with the Tampa Bay Rays.
⚡ Former Brave Freddie Freeman somehow did not die when he fell straight into the visitors dugout while chasing a foul ball at Dodger Stadium this week. “I was going to lean against the rail to catch the ball,” he said. “And obviously, there was no rail.”
A ROUGH STRETCH OF RELIEF
Tyler Mahle’s line in two starts since joining Atlanta: 12 innings, one earned run, seven hits, 16 strikeouts, two walks.
“He’s been a shot in the arm for us,” Weiss said Wednesday.
As a group, Braves starters have posted a 2.11 ERA over their past nine outings … and that includes Bryce Elder’s unusual seven-run fiasco Monday.
Strong, shove-it-in-the-doubters’-faces type work.
But are we worried about the bullpen yet?
No matter what happens the rest of the way, the relief corps is key to Atlanta having any postseason success. Its collective ERA of 3.44 ranks third in the MLB … and tops in the National League.
Over the past month, though? 4.84.
Unfortunately, you can count Iglesias a primary offender.
- The closer has surrendered at least one run in eight of his 18 appearances since July 1.
- All three of his blown saves came over the same period.
- An ERA that once held steady a tad above 1.00 now sits at 3.02.
Iglesias gave up a homer in what was then a four-run game Wednesday night. His manager had his back afterward.
“Virtually every closer has little spurts where they might struggle a little bit,” Weiss told reporters. “Virtually every one of them. So I think Iggy’s gonna be fine.”
He’s probably right, of course. The man’s struggled and recovered many times before.
But with the ETA of eighth-inning guy/secondary closer Robert Suarez still TBD (he was scheduled to start a throwing program Thursday), it’s hard not to get a little antsy about things.
WHAT’S ON DECK: D-BACKS AND A TRIP TO MINNY
Games left: 42.
Number of Braves wins and Phillies losses necessary to clinch the National League East: 32.
Let’s get it.
BRAVES VS. DIAMONDBACKS
📺 Game times: 7:15 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 1:35 p.m. Sunday. Saturday’s game airs on Fox.
🤔 What to know: The Diamondbacks (64-58) come in trailing the Dodgers big time in the NL West but right in the thick of the wild card race. Their notable trade deadline addition: Outfielder Lars Nootbaar, who is just 3-for-25 at the plate so far.
- A 17-2 romp helped the Braves split a four-game series with Arizona way back in April.
💪 Probable starters: As announced, in chronological order …
- Chris Sale (12-7, 2.20 ERA) vs. Brandon Pfaadt (6-1, 3.36)
- Grant Holmes (7-4, 3.47) vs. Eduardo Rodríguez (11-4, 2.70)
- Bryce Elder (8-7, 4.03) vs. Michael Soroka (8-3, 2.92)
In April, our old pal Soroka surrendered just one run over five innings against his former team. Earlier this week, he returned from a six-week stint on the injured list (strained glute) by scattering three singles over 4⅓ innings against the Rockies.
🎉 Festivities and free stuff: It’s Alumni Weekend. Friday brings pregame autographs from former Braves and an Andres Galarraga bobblehead. On Saturday, an alumni parade steps off at 4 p.m.
BRAVES AT TWINS
📺 Game times: 7:40 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 1:40 p.m. Wednesday. All on BravesVision.
🤔 What to know: Minnesota remains just under .500 but in arm’s length of the American League’s final wild card spot. They added former Braves reliever AJ Minter at the deadline.
- Outfielder Byron Buxton, a longtime theoretical Braves trade target, had been out with a hip injury since late July but returned to Minnesota’s lineup Thursday night.
😮 Friendly confines: It should not surprise you that Braves first baseman Matt Olson, a former American Leaguer, is hitting .365 with two homers and 12 RBIs in 14 career games at Target Field.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Ronald Acuña Jr. spent a moment before Wednesday’s game with Make-A-Wish recipient Finley Watson. Fabulous.
Oh, and the trivia answer: 89 wins. Weiss is currently on pace for 98 in his inaugural season at the Braves helm.
Thanks for reading Braves Report. Tell a friend — and maybe give the Win Column newsletter a shot, too.
Until next time.