Braves takeaways: Acuña can't carry offense alone, team stuck in rut, plans for Fuentes?

New York Times

2 days ago

NEW YORK — With Ronald Acuña Jr. getting on base at least twice nightly for the previous 15 games, the Braves' offense was at least middling and sometimes more.
But when Acuña didn't reach base Thursday, it was a reminder of how bad Atlanta's offense was before one of baseball's most dynamic players came off the injured list just over a month ago.
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The Braves mustered three singles and nothing else — not even a walk — in a 4-0 loss to the New York Mets, who lost their starting pitcher to injury in the third inning and kept mowing down Braves hitters anyway.
The vibe after this loss?
'Nobody's happy. I mean, it's not good,' said manager Brian Snitker, whose Braves slipped back to six games under .500 (37-43) on the eve of the season's halfway point. 'You're not happy with something like this. We couldn't get anything going offensively.'
The mood wasn't good because neither was the offense. Again. It's a top-heavy lineup with several holes, subpar even with the marvelous Acuña. Only he, Matt Olson and rookie catcher Drake Baldwin, when he's in the lineup, have been doing much of anything.
'(Acuña) is one of those guys that when he goes, we go,' Snitker said. 'But (him not reaching base) is going to happen, too. My God, he's doing great. We need to be better in the middle (of the lineup).'
The Mets lost 10 of 11 before winning the last two in this four-game series, but they are back in first place in the National League East and have a gaping 10-game lead over the third-place Braves. The fact that Atlanta went 5-2 against the Mets in 10 days was no solace, especially since the Braves lost a series at Miami in between.
'We needed to go 7-0 against, quite honestly,' Snitker said. 'We're trying to dig out of a hole and we're trying to catch people, and we've got to win every series we play.'
The Mets have a half-game division lead over the Philadelphia Phillies, who come to Atlanta for a three-game series that starts Friday.
And the Braves? They're stuck in a rut, eighth place in the NL wild-card standings and seven games behind the San Diego Padres, who would have the third and final wild-card spot if the postseason began today.
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Mets starter Griffin Canning retired eight of nine Braves before exiting with an apparent torn Achilles. Undistinguished Austin Warren then limited the Braves to one hit in 2 1/3 innings in his second MLB appearance of the season, and Dedniel Núñez entered with a 4.50 ERA and pitched two perfect innings with four strikeouts.
It was that kind of night for the Braves. It's that kind of season. They are in the middle to bottom third of MLB in most offensive categories. With runners in scoring position, they rank 23rd with a .697 OPS.
'To be able to (face) a bullpen for, what was it, six innings? You want to be able to do a little more,' said Olson, who extended his on-base streak to 27 games with a ninth-inning single off Edwin Díaz. 'We clearly couldn't get anything going.'
One day after Acuña became the first player to commit to the Home Run Derby at next month's All-Star Game in Atlanta, the Braves star moved up to third among NL outfielders in the first phase of All-Star fan voting.
.@ronaldacunajr24 is moving on to Phase 2 of the All-Star Ballot! 🌟
Voting begins Monday at noon. 🗳️: https://t.co/DZR0ZYbjhX pic.twitter.com/tR1E12ut7m
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 26, 2025
Voting begins anew for the second phase to determine position-player starters, but if Acuña were to finish third or higher in that round, he'll be a fan-elected starter for the fifth time, which would tie Braves icons Hank Aaron and Dale Murphy for most in franchise history.
What separates Acuña is that it would be his fifth time elected in five full MLB seasons. He's in his eighth season with the Braves, but wasn't brought up for his debut until one month into the 2018 season. There was no All-Star Game in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Acuña was voted to start in 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023, though he couldn't play in 2021 after tearing the ACL in his right knee days before the All-Star game. He tore the ACL in his right knee last season on May 26 and began this season on the injured list.
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Since being activated May 23, Acuña has hit .369 with nine homers, 18 RBIs and a 1.143 OPS in 31 games.
He reached base via hit or walk at least twice in 15 straight games before going 0-for-4 Thursday, the fourth-longest such streak by a Brave in more than a century, topped by Deion Sanders (16 games in 1994) and Hall-of-Famers Rogers Hornsby (17 in 1928) and Eddie Mathews (16 in 1962). Acuña had a .603 OBP during the streak.
Marcell Ozuna was the Braves' most consistently productive hitter during 2023-2024 and second-best DH in baseball in that span behind Shohei Ohtani, who won an MVP award in each league in those years.
Through Ozuna's first 30 games this season, his production remained elite despite a hip ailment. His .287 average and .922 OPS through those 30 games — the team's first 33 games — was in line with his .289 and .916 OPS over the previous two seasons.
However, Ozuna inflated that OPS more with walks than long balls in that span, posting just five homers and 12 RBIs (with 29 walks) through his first 30 games after totaling 79 homers and 204 RBIs in the previous two seasons.
Since then, the hits and walks have slowed, and the power numbers remain well below his usual. Ozuna hit .224 with six homers and a .700 OPS in his past 46 games before Thursday and said two weeks ago his hip was no longer an issue. He just wasn't hitting.
He had a homer robbed in the first inning Wednesday on a leaping catch by center fielder Jeff McNeil, and Ozuna has one homer and five extra-base hits in his past 22 games. He does have 15 RBIs in that span, four coming on a three-run homer and sacrifice fly in a 12-4 rout of the Colorado Rockies on June 13.
Snitker was asked if Ozuna has shown any signs of getting going.
'I don't think any of us are hitting, other than Ronald and Matt right now,' Snitker said. 'The rest of them — we're trying to get everybody going. So you kind of look and find some positives in there. Just keep waiting for us to— you know, we're gonna go on a roll at some point in time. I just hope it'll be sooner than later.'
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One encouraging sign from Ozuna: He singled with one out in the fourth inning Thursday and raced to second base on an error on the play, his stride as smooth and fast as it's been in quite some time. But as is often the case with the Braves, he was stranded when Austin Riley grounded out and Sean Murphy struck out.
After Didier Fuentes gave up eight hits and six runs in 3 1/3 innings of his second major-league start Wednesday, many expected the 20-year-old and his 10.80 ERA to be optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett to make room for a fresh bullpen arm.
The Braves instead optioned left-hander Austin Cox and recalled righty Michael Peterson. Does that mean Fuentes will be kept around for another start?
'As far as I know right now, yeah,' Snitker said.
But when asked later about Fuentes getting to make a start in the homestand that begins Friday — his first two were at Miami and New York — Snitker said, 'Well, it's not up to me, really. I mean, if he's still here, then I'm thinking he's gonna be making the next one.'
While the Braves did not indicate there were any other plans, Jackson Stephens pitched five scoreless innings of one-hit ball Thursday for Gwinnett, after working four hitless and scoreless innings in his previous start.
If the Braves wanted to bring up Stephens to fill the rotation spot that Fuentes has filled twice since Chris Sale went on the IL with a rib-cage fracture, the schedule would work favorably since there's an off day Monday before a home series against the Los Angeles Angels.
Whatever they do with Fuentes in the immediate future, Snitker and the Braves have been impressed with the maturity and ability of the Colombian right-hander, who is the youngest player in the majors and had just six minor-league starts above the High-A level.
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'He does have stuff that'll play' in the majors, Snitker said. 'It's just the experience. He hasn't logged a whole lot of professional innings yet, so he's learning on the job. Seems like a bright kid and adaptable and coachable. So, we just hope he continues to learn and make adjustments like everybody has to.'
(Top photo of Ronald Acuña Jr.: Dustin Satloff / Getty Images)