The Atlanta Braves felt the keen pangs of Opening Day heartbreak with a 7-4 loss to the San Diego Padres, the very same team that eliminated Atlanta in the NL Wild Card round a few months ago.
We don’t need to search long and hard for culprits. Atlanta’s stars came through, with home runs from both Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley. The reigning NL Cy Young winner, Chris Sale, went five innings deep and handed it off to the bullpen with Atlanta in the driver’s seat, leading 4-3. Then the bullpen imploded.
In the first high-leverage relief spot of the season, Brian Snitker went to former World Series champ Héctor Neris, who inked a minor-league contract mere weeks ago. The 35-year-old only made three appearances in spring training after signing on late. But, lo and behold, he was available — and apparently Atlanta’s best option in a key spot Thursday afternoon.
Neris gave up a pinch-hit bomb to Gavin Sheets, his first batter faced. Then he let Elías Diaz and Fernando Tatis Jr. get on base. Snitker pulled the plug before Neris recorded a single out. Díaz and Tatis both went on to score with Dylan Lee on the mound. Aaron Bummer gave up a run in the next inning to pad San Diego’s lead.
Gavin Sheets ties it up for the @Padres! #OpeningDay pic.twitter.com/ksA1Z44jk0
— MLB (@MLB) March 27, 2025
Atlanta’s bullpen cost them a win on Opening Day. Rather than looking inward, Brian Snitker was quick to deflect blame postgame.
Brian Snitker isn’t worried about the awful Braves bullpen
The Braves’ offseason was a major disappointment. Alex Anthopoulos’ response to the snakebitten, injury-plagued 2024 campaign was to cite the looming returns of Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuña Jr. as a reason to do nothing. He signed Jurickson Profar, a clutch move, but Anthopoulos did next to nothing as Atlanta’s pitching staff melted away.
It was bad enough for the Braves to lose Max Fried and Charlie Morton without endeavoring to replace either. But Atlanta also lost top relievers A.J. Minter and Joe Jiménez. Rather than spending on dependable, high-leverage arms, the Braves inked has-beens Craig Kimbrel, Hector Neris, and Jesse Chavez to minor-league deals.
That backfired on Opening Day, and folks, it will backfire again before long. Atlanta’s entire pitching staff feels fragile — an injury or two away from outright disaster. Rather than hint at a need for change, however, Snitker came to the defense of Neris and Atlanta’s bullpen.
“Honestly, we don’t know what the right mix is going to be yet, until we play these games,” Snitker told reporters. “We’ve got 161 [games] left. I like where we’re at. Yeah, you want to win the game today. I don’t like an inning like that at any point in time during the season.”
Yeah, the right mix. Sure pal.
This was such a predictable issue. It’s one game, so we can’t write definitive takeaways yet, but the Braves’ options are thinner than thin. Neris was a consistent liability for both Chicago and Houston last season. Baltimore knocked Kimbrel out of his traditional closing role. These are not solutions. They’re half-measures at best, bordering on a complete misallocation of resources.
Anthopoulos needs to hammer the trade market in search of pitching upgrades. Sooner than later. Until he does, the Braves will keep blowing leads and wasting strong showings from a dynamic offense.
