Fun Fact: Only one team wins the World Series every year. Which means 29 teams don’t win the final game of the year which according to Moneyball means their season didn’t fucking matter. When a team gets eliminated from winning the World Series I’ll do a profile of their season.
Today’s Team….Atlanta Braves
How Did They Get Eliminated
Wait. The preseason prediction by many a sports site to be the NL World Series representative is already eliminated? Okay, just from the division right? Right? Oh, boy it’s September 8th and they aren’t going to win the division? oh , wait, it's September 9th and now they are fully eliminated. Woof.
Well, despite beating the Cubs 4-1 the Phillies would also win against the Mets which sealed the Braves fate in the Division. The Mets were doing a really good job of keeping the Braves alive by having an atrocious September but even though the Braves took a win from the Tigers the Mets got to play the Nationals and won so that meant the Braves were eliminated.
What Do I Know About This Team Because I Only Follow the Brewers
As mentioned above the Braves were a pre-season favorite to not only win the NL East but in some cases go to the World Series. I’ll probably have to dig into what happened to this roster a bit more but I think the biggest thing is none of the names that the Braves are known for have produced for them this year.
Spencer Strider was a tough top of the rotation pitcher that has seen his velocity dip. I want to say Chris Sale is on this team now? Matt Olsen is having a down year. Acuna was coming back from injury and was raking but then cooled down (or got hurt?) I think a lot of the guys on this team got hurt which is a bummer because when healthy they are probably one of the most dangerous teams in baseball.
The biggest thing I know about this team was that they were a part of the Brewers 14 game winning streak. They were mostly competitive games, but the Braves just never seemed to produce runs when they needed to and as they struggled the Brewers continued to hit singles and doubles and tack on runs whenever they could.
The Braves also got to host the All-Star game after it was taken away from them a few years ago. It was probably one of the more eventful All-Star games in recent history. Mostly because the game went to a swing off.
Former Brewer Orlando Arcia was on the opening day roster for the Braves but was DFA’d early in the year.
So Now That I’ve Actually Done Some Research What Happened to this Team
The Braves started the season losing their first 7 games. Most of the writers and fans wrote this off as a slow start and that they could bounce back because Acuna and Strider were going to come back at some point in the season. They also had to play the Dodgers and the Padres on the road to open the season. Hey, anyone can have a bad week and it was early in the season, they were on the road. Get it out of the system.
They would bounce back and after a bad start would end the month of May with an overall record 3 games under .500. Then June and July happened and they would go 19-32.
Matt Olsen is having a “down” year with 26 Home Runs and 87 RBI.
Ronald Acuna Jr is still recovering from his knee surgery and has only played half of the season but in his appearances he has been fine.
Spencer Strider is also coming off of a missed 2024 when he underwent Tommy John. He hasn’t bounced back to where he was before injury when he won 20 games. He is one of those players that when you see you are facing him you are thinking, “Oh, this guy is good and if he gets on a roll we are screwed.” Well, not this year I guess.
Austin Riley has had 3 straight pedestrian seasons after getting MVP votes a few years ago.
Chris Sale missed 2 months after he broke a rib and is only 5-5 on the season after winning 18 games last year.
All of their offensive stats have been middle of the pack. Their team ERA is 22nd. They have the 8th highest payroll and they are massively under-performing.
This was always going to be the toughest division in the National League because of the money the Mets threw at free-agents and the Phillies just being the Phillies, but when the Braves got down like they did to start the season they were screwed.
Did Anything Go Right For This Team
The “down” years that this team is having would be career years for some guys on other teams. (Thanks Aaron Rodgers for this quote and way to measure mediocrity) They play really good team defense and have the 2nd least errors in the bigs. They have 8th highest payroll and they have all the talent to win. It's just they aren’t. Just a weird down year for the Braves.
To the credit of the front office they didn’t make a ton of deals at the trade deadline, because they really didn’t need to. They have the team they want; they just aren’t playing well. They’ve won 6 straight running up to being eliminated.
Are They Going to Get Good Anytime Soon?
This team should be getting back to their winning ways next year, but that could be predicated on if Brian Snitiker returns. In a game that I was watching a week or so ago there was a mention that he might want to step away from the game because of the life events he has missed with his family. If that is the case it might breathe some life into this team and give them a soft-reset for next year.
They have the 28th ranked farm system and only 2 prospects in the top 100, both of whom are pitchers. But if there is going to be a big step forward it isn’t going to come from the minors its going to be running back what they have.
In the off-season they could deal a couple of players to help re-build the farm system, but they have a lot of guys locked into some big contracts that might not be as appealing to other teams. This team will be contending next year for the division.
Just one postseason award.
The Braves play really good defense so a Gold Glove should be won by someone on this team. Ozzie Albies is playing almost perfectly defensively at second base, and as much as I want Brice Turang to win another Gold or even Platinum glove; I’d be okay with Albies winning the award here.
Hey Grok, in 100 words summarize the 2025 Atlanta Braves. Please don't be racist.
The Atlanta Braves’ 2025 season was a major disappointment, as the team finished with a losing record of 70-83 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2017. A rash of injuries, particularly to the starting rotation and key players like Ronald Acuña Jr., derailed their campaign. Underperforming veterans and a quiet offseason contributed to the struggle, with the once-feared offense ranking near the bottom of the league in runs scored. While young players and a few standouts like Matt Olson provided some highlights, the season was a significant step back, raising questions about the team's future.
I didn’t realize that the playoff streak was ended this year by the Braves. The Braves were the team that when they made the playoffs you kind of rooted for. When the Brewers ended up going on a run in 2018 everyone was hoping the Braves could pull out the upset on the Dodgers so the Brewers could have an “easier” opponent.
Also a part of this streak was the Braves winning a World Series in 2021.I’ll always remember that World Series win because they clinched the day my son was born.
Did the Savannah Bananas Play at their Field?
They did! Instead of the Braves playing an opening weekend series at home the Bananas got to play at Truist while the Braves were out west not winning baseball games.
As I’ve mentioned before, if you have the Bananas play in your stadium that means you aren’t winning the World Series. And by having the Bananas playing at their stadium that opening weekend that was the ultimate death nail for the Braves.
Is there a baseball movie featuring this team that has dumb baseball logic I need to vent about?
Trouble with the Curve
I’ve never watched this full movie but I’ve seen the final scene where the Number 1 pick is doing a bit of live BP for the cameras and PR. This is a pretty common move. Whenever a 1st round pick signs their contract they do a small press conference, do some BP with the team, shower up and then do an awkward interview on that evening’s broadcast.
The one thing about this move that seems very, very strange is how this batter is taking all this BP and smoking balls out into the seats, but then all of a sudden some guy comes in throws 8 pitches and this batter can’t hit any of them?
Okay first of all. Did these scouts not watch him actually play a game of baseball? They do know that pitchers will usually work location and mix pitches, right?
Second, with no warming up the pitcher throws straight heat and nasty curveballs all of which are for strikes. The cockiness of the batter before is turned into frustration which makes sense because he is getting embarrassed in front of the press.
Now I read the synopsis and know there is some weird tension among the Clint Eastwood character who is a scout and other scouts and the front office. But even if you saw your first round pick miss pitches its not like he was going to be your starting third basemen that night for the Braves. He was going to be heading to Rookie Ball and working his way up through the ranks. He would be given time to mature and figure out how to hit that curveball and how to hit pitches that aren’t right down the middle.
And this pitcher. Okay, great, you got a good arm but you are going to have to learn how to throw a waste pitch otherwise you are going to have guys jumping on that first pitch constantly. Sure he is a lefty and situational lefties are the cornerstone of an elite bullpen, but if you aren’t going to work the corners and get outs you won’t be making it far.
So a dumb scene with dumb baseball logic.
How Will Your Team Do Next Year?
This team is going to run it back and if everything bounces back they should be back to being not just a contender in the East but a NL Pennant contender once again. If they get a new manager it shouldn’t impact them that much. 93-69 and a Wild Card spot.
Next on the Chopping Block
We go back to a AAA stadium and visit the Tampa Bay Rays.