Throughout the first month and a half or so of the 2025 season, the Atlanta Braves’ struggles at least came with the caveat that they were without their two of their biggest stars. With both Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuña Jr. coming back, the Braves were supposed to bounce back from their rough start and look like contenders again. Unfortunately, that has not been how things have turned out at all.
Strider has taken some time to get his feet back under him, but Acuña Jr. has been on a warpath ever since he came off the injured list. However, it is becoming abundantly clear that the problems with the Braves’ offense run so deep that even a resurgent Acuña Jr. isn’t going to be enough to turn their season around.
Even with Ronald Acuña Jr. doing his thing, the Braves’ offense is a mess
If you told Braves fans beforehand that Acuña Jr. would get rolling so quickly and immediately slash .367/.441/.733 in his first eight games back and their starting rotation would have a 2.98 ERA for the month of May, you would expect them to have a good month. Instead, Atlanta went 13-14 and did little to make up the deficit they dug for themselves to start the 2025 season.
While some less than great bullpen performances played a role and there were some rough starts from Braves starters thrown in there, the biggest culprit for Atlanta’s struggles has been the offense. In the eight games that Acuña Jr. has been back in the lineup, the Braves have gone 3-5 and have averaged 3.75 runs per game. That includes three games where the Braves scored one run or less (all losses) and that is with Acuña Jr. going wild.
Braves fans were hoping that Acuña Jr. would save the Braves, but it is abundantly clear that he won’t be enough as good as he is. With Matt Olson and Austin Riley being only being pretty good last month and guys like Michael Harris II, Ozzie Albies, and Sean Murphy struggling, Atlanta is only a .500ish team.
There is still time to turn things around. If Atlanta goes on a run in June and July, everyone will forget the fact that the Braves were three games below .500 at the start of June. However, going on that run means that Acuña Jr. (as well as Drake Baldwin who has also been great) is going to have get some more help on offense. If that doesn’t happen, 2025 is going to be a very long season.
