It is still early, but when is it going to click for the Atlanta Braves? A few weeks into the 2025 MLB season, and the Braves boast one of the worst records in baseball at 4-11.

While they have played slightly better ball over the last week and change, it looks to be an arduous climb out of the 0-7 hole they initially dug themselves. Mental toughness will be what either makes or breaks this team.

While we could chalk it up to a tough schedule from the jump, the offense has been hit or miss once again. Outside of Spencer Schwellenbach, the starting rotation has not been pitching up to its lofty standard.

Most concerning, the suspect bullpen looks to be in far worse shape than anyone in Braves Country ever realized. The good news is this team has plenty of time to eventually get back on track.

As Atlanta takes its talent north of the border for its road series with the Toronto Blue Jays, let’s keep our eyes on the improvements that could be ahead. We know Spencer Strider will be making his triumphant return to the Atlanta rotation in only a few days. In the meantime, let’s see if a few other roster calibrations and a bit more honest confrontation will eventually get the best out of this team.

Atlanta Braves news: Aaron Bummer coming off bereavement listAfter having not pitched at all in the road series at the Tampa Bay Rays, left-hander reliever Aaron Bummer has rejoined the team after having been placed on the bereavement list at the end of last week. Bummer looked noticeably upset in the latter part of the home series vs. the Philadelphia Phillies. Getting him back after a few bullpen disasters in Tampa should elevate the Braves’ biggest weakness.

On the year, Bummer have a 5.40 ERA in five innings pitched for the Braves. While he has seven strikeouts in his five appearances to date for this season, his WHIP is not in a great spot at 1.800. This is his second season with the Braves since coming over from the Chicago White Sox the previous offseason. Simply put, Atlanta is banking on Bummer having a bigger role in this year’s bullpen.

Admittedly, Bummer has not been one of my favorite pitchers in the Atlanta bullpen over the last two years, but I would be lying to you if I did not think he needed to be a bigger part of this core for this season. Of the handful of things we in Braves Country could point the finger at for why this year’s team inevitably failed to live up to lofty expectations, it would have to be how the bullpen was built.

We can only hope Bummer can get back into his routine and pitch some good baseball for Atlanta.

Atlanta Braves news: Alex Verdugo about to make his team debut

This could be a cure to what has been ailing the Braves for the first few weeks. We have started to see the top and middle of the batting order start to get on and make something happen at the plate. The problem is the bottom third has largely been three consecutive walking outs to kill any notion of a rally. One potential spark plug that could be had for the Braves is Alex Verdugo being called up.

Between Jurickson Profar’s 80-game suspension due to PED usage and Ronald Acuña Jr. still rehabbing from his second torn ACL in four seasons, so much has been placed on an undermanned outfield offensively. Although Michael Harris II has started to hold his own, Jarred Kelenic is looking more and more like a Quadruple-A player. The same applies to Bryan De La Cruz.

Verdugo signed a Minor-League deal with the Braves late in the offseason. He has gone 4-for-22 at the plate with two home runs playing for the Gwinnett Stripers in Triple-A. Best known for his time with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, Braves Country can only hope he can provide some of the juice Joc Pederson gave Atlanta during the second half of the magical 2021 World Series run.

Along with elevating the bullpen, Atlanta could use the most amount out of help in the outfield.

Atlanta Braves news: Chris Sale takes the blame for the team being bad

Last year’s NL Triple Crown winner Chris Sale seems to have fallen back to Earth in year two with Atlanta. While Spencer Schwellenbach has carried the Braves’ largely lackluster rotation up to this point, Sale seems to be incredibly frustrated with his play of late as the de facto ace of this staff.

Spencer Strider will be returning this week, but Reynaldo Lopez is down for the count for a while now.

Sale struggled once again in Atlanta’s most recent loss on Sunday afternoon, and his postgame comments suggest he’s as fed up as the rest of us.