The sting of the Atlanta Braves’ loss to the Dodgers on Wednesday continues to be felt by fans. Starting the season 0-7 was not what anyone expected from a team that hoped to put 2024’s woes behind them.
Things looked bright early, but they quickly soured as the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers each swept Atlanta. The hardest pill to swallow was the series finale loss, a game the Braves led 5-0 at one point. Bryce Elder allowed three runs and Raisel Iglesias allowed the final three runs which allowed LA to remain unbeaten.
Atlanta had multiple opportunities to bring in more runs, going just 5-for-15 with runners in scoring position. The sixth inning saw the Braves load the bases with no outs and the heart of their lineup coming to the plate.
The Braves have had a horrible offensive showing since the season started. As a team, they are batting .151/.251/.234 with a .485 OPS. They have only scored 14 runs so far and are a combined 1-for-34 with runners in scoring position (RISP).
Austin Riley embarrassed by his role in Braves series loss to Dodgers
After Wednesday’s dramatic loss, Austin Riley spoke about how embarrassed he was by his performance. He wouldn’t pin the loss on Raisel Iglesias, but instead on the lack of offensive production with bases loaded and no outs in the sixth inning. “From a personal standpoint, it’s honestly embarrassing what I’ve displayed offensively,” Riley said.
#Braves’ Austin Riley: “Fom a personal standpoint, it’s honestly embarrassing what I’ve displayed offensively, and I’ve got a lot of work to do. From an offensive point, there’s no excuses, it’s embarrassing…With the bases loaded, one out, no excuses, I got to get it done.”
— David O’Brien (@DOBrienATL) April 3, 2025
It was a huge flop by the middle of the order. Marcell Ozuna, who walked three times, flew out for the first out. Riley battled to a 3-2 count but took strike three on a borderline call at the bottom of the zone (but was too close to take). Olson then popped out on the infield to kill Atlanta’s momentum.
Ozuna has earned a crazy amount of walks so far and hasn’t had many opportunities to hit in clutch moments. He leads Major League Baseball with 13 walks. Olson has walked seven times so far with a great OBP of .379 and is hitting the ball extremely hard with no results.
Riley has been absolutely putrid so far this season and he’s right to say it’s an embarrassment. He is 3-for-27 with 11 strikeouts so far and was 0-for-19 before his single in the fourth inning on Wednesday night.
Braves insider Mark Bowman pointed out that Riley has gone 0-for-6 including three strikeouts with RISP. While Riley’s stat line is the most glaring with RISP, Olson and Ozuna are a combined 2-for-11 in the same situations. The middle of the order is not getting the job done and it has to change if Atlanta has any chance of salvaging the season.
