ATLANTA — A highly anticipated four-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers couldn’t have started much better for the Braves, nor ended much worse.
After outscoring the Dodgers 16-3 in the first two games and leading 2-1 through six innings of the third, the Braves were outscored 17-0 over the final 12 innings of the series. Atlanta lost 9-2 after the Dodgers’ seven-run ninth inning Sunday, then watched its bullpen get pummeled again in a 9-0 loss Monday.
The Braves went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position in the first four innings Sunday against Yoshinobu Yamamoto, then presented no challenge against four Dodgers relievers the rest of the way.
The Dodgers scratched out three runs in six innings against Max Fried, then blitzed Daysbel Hernández (three walks, one out) and Aaron Bummer for six runs in the seventh, when former Brave Freddie Freeman twisted the knife with a three-run, lefty-on-lefty, opposite-field homer off Bummer.
Ugly 9-0 loss and series finish for the #Braves, who were outscoring 17-0 over the final 12 innings of a four-game split with the Dodgers after starting the series out with two impressive wins. So many wasted scoring opportunities for Atlanta, which slips to 4th in wild-card race
— David O’Brien (@DOBrienATL) September 17, 2024
The Braves slipped to fourth in the NL wild-card standings, one game behind the New York Mets, who rallied to beat Washington 2-1 in 10 innings. With 12 games left for both the Braves and Mets, their Sept. 24-26 series at Truist Park in the penultimate series of the season looms larger by the day.
Before the teams square off in that one, the Braves have a six-game trip against the Cincinnati Reds and Miami Marlins that starts Tuesday in Cincy, while the Mets have six more home games — two against the Nationals, then four against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Here are the key takeaways for the Braves:
Terrible situational hitting again
The narrative of the Braves’ tumultuous season centers around the extraordinary number of key injuries they’ve had to overcome, but a subplot is their staggering inability to cash in on scoring opportunities.
A year after fielding a homer-driven offense that led the majors and smashed records, the Braves have a middle-of-the-pack offense that’s undermined by poor situational hitting, as it was again Sunday when Atlanta was 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
The Braves got the leadoff runner on base in each of the first four innings against Yamamoto and failed to score, including after Sean Murphy’s leadoff double in the second inning and Ramón Laureano’s leadoff triple in the fourth. After the triple, Murphy struck out before Orlando Arcia grounded out to the shortstop.
“It’s frustrating when you get runners in scoring position like that and can’t at least get one,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “You never know, could be a different game if you do. … We’ve just got to do a better job of, when we get guys in scoring position, getting the ball in the air, or ground out to second, or if an infield’s back … you know, just the situational hitting.”
In RISP situations, the Braves rank 23rd in the majors in OBP (.316) and 21st in OPS (.728). Other than Marcell Ozuna (.924) and Matt Olson (.878), they don’t have an active player with an OPS as high as .800 in 20 or more at-bats with runners in scoring position. Several injured Braves didn’t distinguish themselves in RISP situations before going on the IL, including Austin Riley (.716 OPS) and Ronald Acuña Jr. (.676).
Murphy has hit .189 in 49 at-bats with runners in scoring position, and Arcia’s .171 average (18-for-105) in those situations is third-worst among MLB qualifiers, while Arcia’s .190 slugging percentage and .438 OPS are easily the worst in RISP situations, where no other major-league qualifier is slugging below .281 or producing an OPS under .483.
“I don’t think it really has anything to do with injuries,” center fielder Michael Harris II said of the Braves’ continued RISP woes. “It’s just something we’ve got to work on, pushing forward these last set of games. We’ve got to really make sure we hone in on that and try to get the runner over and get him in.”
Ozuna’s power outage
What’s happened to Ozuna’s homer and RBI production, which for much of the season was the only constant in the Braves offense?
From May 2, 2023, through Aug. 20 this season, Ozuna led the majors with 192 RBIs in 251 games and ranked second with 75 home runs, just one homer behind the co-leaders in that period, the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani.
The Braves’ DH batted .303 with a .600 slugging percentage and .974 OPS in those 251 games.
But Ozuna has no homers and four RBIs in 25 games since Aug. 20, posting a solid OBP in that stretch but a meager .315 slugging percentage and .675 OPS. It’s his longest homer drought since a 35-gamer in 2018. He hasn’t driven in a run in 18 games.
“He’s guessing wrong a lot of times,” Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer said at the beginning of the Dodgers series. “He’s a little late on fastballs. He’s been getting a lot of secondary stuff, so he’s been kind of reacting to fastballs, which, that’s not him. He’s got to get on the heater (fastball).”
Ozuna has a reputation as one of baseball’s best fastball hitters, but lately, pitchers have been getting fastballs past him by throwing him more off-speed pitches, which has led to him getting away from what he does so well.
“We’ve talked about it, about staying with his approach (hitting to) center field and trusting himself on the off-speed stuff, which he’s been seeing so much that he doesn’t want to chase (pitches out of the strike zone),” Seitzer said. “He’s been a little bit careful at times, not wanting to swing out of the zone, and that’s not him.
“He’s pressing a little bit. Our offense has been struggling and everybody’s trying to do a little more.”
Ozuna ranked first or a close second in the NL in average, homers and RBIs for much of the season, creating some buzz about possibly becoming the league’s first Triple Crown winner since St. Louis’ Joe Medwick in 1937. But in recent weeks, he’s fallen off the pace in each category.
Ozuna said fatigue has been partly to blame. “But at the same time I’m coming ready every single day and grinding through my at-bats and trying to help the team as much as I can,” he said.
Despite the recent power outage, Ozuna still leads the Braves in average (.302), homers (37), RBIs (98) and walks (68), the only NL player to currently lead his team in each of those categories.
Albies likely to return on Friday
After missing just over eight weeks recovering from a fractured left wrist, second baseman Ozzie Albies could rejoin the Braves for their three-game series at Miami that starts Friday.
Albies will start a brief rehab stint Monday with Triple-A Gwinnett, with the plan calling for him to play second base on Tuesday and Wednesday and join the Braves in Miami on Friday.
Because there’s still discomfort when he swings left-handed, the switch-hitting Albies will bat right-handed only when he returns. If the lefty swing feels better during the remainder of the regular season or postseason (assuming the Braves make it), he could revert to switch-hitting.
For now, Albies will bat only right-handed, which he’s done for only 15 MLB regular-season plate appearances against knuckleballers and other lower-velocity pitchers.
Righty is his natural side and the side from which Albies has far better results. He has a .339 career average with 42 homers and a .933 OPS in 938 plate appearances against lefties. He’s hit .247 with 94 homers and a .743 OPS in 2,809 PAs against righties from the left side of the plate.
“I think it’s great if he’s comfortable with it,” Snitker said of Albies’ decision. “We just know how powerful that right-handed bat is, how good it is. So we need to see how it translates.”
Snitker plans to bat Albies in the middle of the order, probably fifth behind Olson.
The other decision will be what to do with Whit Merrifield, who has played well as Albies’ injury replacement. The versatile veteran will probably be switched to third base or left field.
The outfield seems more likely, given the exceptional defense that Gio Urshela has played while filling in for Riley. However, Merrifield is playing hurt after breaking a bone over the arch of his left foot just over a week ago, and the increased amount of running laterally in the outfield could be painful, along with decelerating after pursuing balls in the gaps and behind or in front of him.
(Photo of Matt Olson: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)
