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New York Times
06-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
After hitting ‘rock bottom,' Braves can still salvage their season – if they snap out of it
The Atlanta Braves are 27-34, 11 games back in the NL East, 1 1/2 games behind rebuilding Washington and only 3 1/2 ahead of lowly Miami. After their latest misstep, a blown six-run lead in the ninth inning Thursday against Arizona, their broadcaster and Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Glavine said, 'If you were looking for rock bottom, this might be it.' Advertisement The tendency, in this age of overreaction, is to project the Braves as trade-deadline sellers and start listing potential landing spots for designated hitter Marcell Ozuna. But through the same date a year ago, the New York Mets were 27-35 and the Houston Astros 28-35, records nearly identical to the Braves' current mark. Both teams finished with nearly 90 wins and reached the postseason. If the Braves fail to ignite, it will be fair to question whether they lost too much of their fabric with the free-agent departures of first baseman Freddie Freeman, shortstop Dansby Swanson and left-hander Max Fried over a four-year span. Whether president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos created too comfortable an environment by awarding so many players extensions. Whether Anthopoulos last offseason should have done more to address his offense and bullpen. But more than 100 games remain. As poorly as the Braves are playing, the recoveries of the 2024 Mets and Astros are testaments to the dangers of passing judgment on a team too soon. So, for that matter, is the example of the 2021 World Series champion Braves, who at this stage of the season were 29-32. The 162-game marathon, combined with an expanded playoff format, allows teams to recover from a bad month or even three. The Braves are unlikely to even consider selling unless they are buried at the All-Star break. Their replacement of third-base coach Matt Tuiasosopo with former manager Fredi Gonzalez on Monday was not a warning shot at manager Brian Snitker, who has led the team to seven straight postseason appearances and is in his 49th year with the organization. No, it was simply a response to two seasons of Tuiasosopo making poor decisions. A change team officials deemed necessary. Snitker isn't blameless. The Braves aren't going to fire him after all he has achieved, but this sure looks like his last season. On Thursday alone, he could have stuck longer with right-hander Grant Holmes rather than start the bullpen carousel by lifting him after 3 1/3 innings. Still, the Braves took their six-run lead into the ninth. At some point, their disappointing performance is on the players, from center fielder Michael Harris II to second baseman Ozzie Albies to closer Raisel Iglesias. Advertisement By this time a year ago, the Mets already had started their turnaround. The Astros got going about two weeks later. But not every club reaches its desired destination. Another projected contender last season, the Texas Rangers, showed how some teams never recover from faulty starts, missing the playoffs one year after winning the World Series. The Braves, if they don't snap out of it, could be this year's Rangers. Their plus-6 run differential indicates their record should be above .500, yet they are seven games under. They have played a major-league-high 25 one-run games, and are only 9-16 in those contests. Even with the deadline offering an opportunity for improvement, an opportunity Anthopoulos seized to catapult his club to a championship in 2021, the strength of the NL this season adds to the degree of difficulty. The Braves need more from their offense, which, before their 10-run eruption Thursday, was tied with the Marlins for 22nd in runs per game. They also need to fix their bullpen, which underwent another shakeup after Thursday's shocking ninth-inning collapse — Daysbel Hernández to the injured list, Scott Blewett designated for assignment and Craig Kimbrel and Dylan Dodd up from Triple A. Yet, for all the Braves' middle-inning maneuvering, the biggest problem remains closer Raisel Iglesias, whose .956 opponents' OPS essentially means he is turning every hitter into Pete Alonso. Not even the highly anticipated returns of right-hander Spencer Strider and right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. altered the Braves' trajectory. Strider is trying to regain his form after missing all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery and nearly a month this season with a strained right hamstring. Acuña, coming off nearly a yearlong absence due to a torn ACL in his left knee, is performing better than the Braves could have expected, batting .333 with four home runs and a 1.056 OPS. Yet the team is 3-9 since his return. Bad breaks are part of this. The loss of right-hander Reynaldo López to shoulder inflammation after one start. The offseason knee surgery that might sideline setup man Joe Jiménez all season. The 80-game suspension to left fielder Jurickson Profar for testing positive for PEDs. Advertisement Well, all teams deal with injuries. The $42 million investment in Profar, based on his outlier campaign in 2024, was always going to be a gamble. And even the regressions of Harris (.590 OPS) and Albies (.658) reflect the volatility in individual performance that is part of the game. The Braves never expected catcher Drake Baldwin and outfielder Eli White to make such positive contributions, either. Early in the offseason, Anthopoulos orchestrated a series of moves to create payroll flexibility, trading designated hitter Jorge Soler, allowing catcher Travis d'Arnaud to depart as a free agent and restructuring the contracts of López and reliever Aaron Bummer. The Braves later lost Fried, right-hander Charlie Morton and reliever A.J. Minter to free agency as well. Profar turned out to be Anthopoulos' only significant addition. And the team, under its Liberty Media ownership, wound up with a lower payroll. Fried might win a Cy Young Award, but the Braves never were going to sign him to the $218 million contract he received from the New York Yankees, and their rotation isn't a problem. Anthopoulos non-tendered Griffin Canning, the pitcher he acquired from the Los Angeles Angels for Soler, and the Mets turned Canning into a potential All-Star. But none of the other players Anthopoulos lost is haunting him. His plan just isn't unfolding the way he envisioned. The way the Braves are constructed, an offense that set records in 2023 should be capable of succeeding with light-hitting Nick Allen at shortstop, just as the Astros once thrived with Martín Maldonado at catcher. A better version of outfielder Jarred Kelenic, an Anthopoulos acquisition from last offseason who earned a demotion at Triple A, surely would help. But the Braves shouldn't need to rely on him, either. Some seasons are like this. Some years it doesn't just work out. The Braves are talented enough to bounce back like they did in 2021, and like the Mets and Astros did last season. But at some point, they've got to show it. And they sure aren't showing it yet. (Top photo of Brian Snitker: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)
Fox News
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Braves drop game with historic ninth-inning meltdown; Diamondbacks secure series sweep
Most 2025 preseason MLB rankings had the Atlanta Braves slotted somewhere in the top 5. Many baseball analysts cited the talent the Braves had on their roster entering the season. So far, though, the team's 2025 campaign has been a disappointment. Atlanta entered Thursday's matinée affair against the Arizona Diamondbacks on a three-game losing streak. The Braves built a 6-0 lead in the early innings, but the D-Backs plated seven runs in the ninth to complete the comeback. The 11-10 victory also secured a series sweep for Arizona and pushed Atlanta's losing streak to four games. Atlanta has now dropped 11 of 14 games. Relief pitcher Scott Blewett gave up five runs, four of which he surrendered in the final inning. Braves closer Raisel Iglesias entered in the ninth with one out and gave up three earned runs. Iglesias was the losing pitcher, while Kendall Graveman earned the win for the D-Backs. Baseball Hall of Famer and Braves analyst Tom Glavine weighed in on the team's collapse. "If you were looking for a rock bottom, this might be it," the former Braves pitcher said Thursday. While some key players such as pitcher Max Fried and others departed after last season, the Braves' core group remained largely intact. Stellar defensive outfielder Michael Harris, the 2022 MLB rookie of the year; three-time All-Star Ozzie Albies; power-hitting third baseman Austin Riley; slugging first baseman Matt Olson; Gold Glove catcher Sean Murphy; and Cy Young winner Chris Sale all returned to the Braves and were expected to continue to produce. All of those players, except for Sale, have had a disappointing season so far. Ronald Acuna Jr., the 2023 MLB MVP, recently returned to the lineup after he missed the start of the season while recovering from a 2024 knee injury. Acuna seems to have quickly returned to his MVP form, hitting four home runs and batting .333 through 12 games. In late May, he crushed a home run to deep left field off the first pitch he saw in his first game back with the Braves. Brian Snitker has worked in the Braves organization in some capacity for nearly half a century. He is credited with helping the Braves win the World Series in 2021. But the Braves manager's decision-making has been scrutinized this season. Snitker's contract with the Braves expires at the end of the 2025 season. He has not publicly revealed whether he wants to retire after this year. The Braves travel cross country to open a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants Friday. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
New York Times
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Braves blow 6-run lead in 9th inning, get swept by D-Backs: ‘We're all gonna be miserable'
In a season that's spiraling on the Atlanta Braves, the nadir may have been reached Thursday when the Arizona Diamondbacks scored seven runs in the ninth inning to win 11-10 and complete a series sweep at Truist Park, where frustrated and furious fans booed like they seldom do for the home team. 'If you were looking for a rock bottom, this might be it,' Braves broadcaster and Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Glavine said after the final out of one of the worst losses for Atlanta in recent memory. Advertisement Closer Raisel Iglesias' woes continued as he gave up the last three runs in the ninth, his ERA ballooning to 6.75, and after the game the Braves made a move to bring up 37-year-old Craig Kimbrel, their former closer, from Triple A. Desperate times, desperate measures. 'It's a really, really hard loss,' said embattled Braves manager Brian Snitker, whose team has lost 11 of 14 games and five consecutive series, and fell to 11 1/2 games behind the first-place New York Mets and 10 behind the Philadelphia Phillies before those teams' games later Thursday. 'We're not playing well. We're not executing. It was nice to score some runs; you're six runs up in the ninth, you feel like you should win the game, obviously,' Snitker said. 'But we didn't. You gotta do your job and we gotta play better. It's a horrible loss and now we gotta sit on it for five hours on an airplane (en route to their next series in San Francisco). And we're all gonna be miserable. And we should. We didn't execute. We didn't put the game away and we gotta do that.' The 9th inning hates to see us coming. — Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) June 5, 2025 Braves fans were furious on social media, message boards and radio airwaves, many calling for Snitker, coaches and front-office officials to be fired. Some wondered if the team was as distraught as were they, the fans. The Braves had an uncharacteristic offensive outburst, getting home runs from Austin Riley, Ronald Acuña Jr. and rookie sensation Drake Baldwin and building a 9-3 lead after seven innings. And then the bullpen, pieced together after free-agent losses and injuries and no offseason additions of note, squandered the entire lead and more. Atlanta had won 766 consecutive games when leading by at least six runs after eight innings, their last loss coming against the Mets on July 17, 1973, when they led 7-1 entering the ninth inning and lost 8-7. Advertisement Thursday's failures will only increase the anger that so many Braves fans have for general manager and president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos for not making moves in the offseason to shore up the bullpen and starting rotation. The Braves' only significant free agent signee was outfielder Jurickson Profar, and he got slapped with an 80-game PED suspension four games into the season, during the Braves' opening 0-7 road trip. It's been that kind of year for a franchise that's gone to eight consecutive postseasons, but now finds itself in fourth place in the NL East, behind the Washington Nationals and a lot closer to the last-place Miami Marlins than to either the Mets or Phillies. No one knows how Kimbrel, a Braves star more than a decade ago, will fare in his late-career return to the team, but it can't be any worse than what the Braves witnessed Thursday, when well-traveled reliever Scott Blewett did just as his name sounds — he gave up three hits (two homers) and was charged five runs in the ninth. Iglesias was called in with one out and a runner on, and only poured more gasoline on the fire. Can the Braves fix this bullpen without making trades? 'We're gonna have to make it work because it's what we got,' Snitker said. The Braves were a team many expected to contend for the NL pennant before the season began. Now, they are a mess. Snitker was asked if a quick turnaround would help, since they start a new series Friday night in San Francisco. 'It's hard to flush one like this, quite honestly,' he said. 'I guarantee you there's gonna be a plane full of guys sick to their stomachs, and we all should be. We win and lose as a team. And like I said, when you have six runs up in the ninth inning, hopefully you can get three outs before they get seven runs and we couldn't. … We're gonna have to figure out a way to make that happen.'
27-05-2025
- Sport
Play ball! Things to know entering the NCAA baseball regionals
OMAHA, Neb. -- The NCAA baseball tournament opens Friday with play in 16 double-elimination regionals. Regional winners advance to best-of-three super regionals next week, and the final eight go to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, beginning June 13. Northeastern's 27-game win streak is the longest in Division I since Fairfield rolled off 28 straight in 2021. The Huskies (48-9) are making their fourth NCAA appearance since 2018 under Mike Glavine, younger brother of Baseball Hall of Fame member Tom Glavine. The Huskies are the No. 2 regional seed in Tallahassee, Florida, and open against Mississippi State. No. 13 national seed Coastal Carolina (48-11) brings an 18-game streak into its home regional. The Chanticleers swept the Sun Belt regular-season and tournament titles under Kevin Schnall, who took over for longtime coach Gary Gilmore this year. They open against Fairfield. Columbia (29-17) has won nine in a row and 16 of 17. The Ivy League champions are a No. 4 regional seed and meet No. 16 national seed Southern Mississippi. Arizona State (35-22) and Kentucky (29-24) each have lost four straight. The Sun Devils are batting .266 with a total of 12 runs and two homers over their past four and are coming off a 2-0 loss to BYU in the Big 12 Tournament. The Wildcats lost their final regular-season series against No. 1 national seed Vanderbilt by a total of four runs and then lost 5-1 to Oklahoma in the SEC Tournament. East Carolina (33-25), which received the American Athletic's automatic bid by winning the conference tournament as a No. 6 seed, has never reached the College World Series in 34 previous NCAA Tournament appearances, the longest streak of its kind. The Pirates are in the field for the ninth time in 10 years. Clemson (44-16) has never won a national championship, or finished as runner-up, in 46 previous appearances. The curse of the No. 1 national seed was finally broken last year when Tennessee won the national championship. Before that, the only No. 1 to win it all was Miami in 1999. Big South Tournament champion USC Upstate, a full Division I member since 2011, is making its tournament debut. The Spartans are second in the nation in scoring at 9.7 runs per game, and Johnny Sweeney is third in RBIs (81) and Scott Campbell is 17th in batting average (.400). They open at No. 11 national seed Clemson, just over an hour southwest of their Spartanburg, South Carolina, campus. The Oxford Regional, hosted by Mississippi, gets the nod. The Rebels earned the No. 10 national seed after winning three games in the SEC Tournament to reach the final, where it lost 3-2 to Vanderbilt. They expect to get back No. 3 starter Mason Nichols and right fielder Ryan Moerman from injury. Their opponent, Murray State (39-13), is in the tournament for the first time since 2003 after winning the Missouri Valley Tournament. The Racers had a three-run lead against the Rebels in Oxford on March 5 before losing 8-7 in 10 innings. Georgia Tech (40-17), the No. 2 regional seed, is the first ACC regular-season champion since 1999 to not host. The Yellow Jackets are matched against Western Kentucky (46-12), which set a school record for wins and has the Conference USA player and newcomer of the year in Ryan Wideman and pitcher of the year in Drew Whalen. Regional hosts have advanced to super regionals 66.8% of the time (267 of 400) since the tournament went to its current format in 1999. Last year, 10 hosts won regionals. The fewest hosts to advance were seven in 2007 and 2014, eight in 2018 and nine in 2017 and 2023. Eleven projected first-round picks in the Major League Baseball amateur draft are in the tournament, including four of the top six, according to analyst Jim Callis. Heading the group are three left-handed pitchers: Tennessee's Liam Doyle (2), LSU's Kade Anderson (3) and Florida State's Jamie Arnold (5). Next are Oregon State SS Aiva Arquette (6), Oklahoma RHP Kyson Witherspoon (11), North Carolina C Luke Stevenson (16), Tennessee 2B Gavin Kilen (18), Wake Forest SS Marek Houston (19), Arizona OF Brendan Summerhill (20), Auburn OF-C Ike Irish (21) and Southern Mississippi RHP J.B. Middleton (22). Oregon center fielder and leadoff man Mason Neville is first in the nation in homers with a school-record 26, and 42 of his 61 hits have gone for extra bases. But Neville enters regionals just 2 for his last 27, and he has gone a season-high five straight games without a homer. The best player you've probably never heard of is Northeastern left-handed pitcher Will Jones. The 6-foot-5, 215-pound graduate student is second in the nation with a 1.82 ERA and third in wins with an 11-0 record. He has been part of five of the Huskies' nation-leading 17 shutouts. Jones had Tommy John surgery when he was in high school in Southampton, Massachusetts, and didn't throw a pitch his first two seasons with the Huskies. He threw in 48 innings over 21 appearances, including two starts, in 2023 and '24. He has pitched 69 1/3 innings this season with 72 strikeouts, and his 11 wins are a school record. California has six teams in regionals, most among the 25 states represented in the tournament. Cal Poly, Fresno State, Southern California, UC Irvine, UCLA and Saint Mary's are the Golden State schools that earned bids. Florida, North Carolina and Texas each has five teams in the tournament and Kentucky has four.
San Francisco Chronicle
27-05-2025
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
Play ball! Things to know entering the NCAA baseball regionals
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The NCAA baseball tournament opens Friday with play in 16 double-elimination regionals. Regional winners advance to best-of-three super regionals next week, and the final eight go to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, beginning June 13. Who's hot Northeastern's 27-game win streak is the longest in Division I since Fairfield rolled off 28 straight in 2021. The Huskies (48-9) are making their fourth NCAA appearance since 2018 under Mike Glavine, younger brother of Baseball Hall of Fame member Tom Glavine. The Huskies are the No. 2 regional seed in Tallahassee, Florida, and open against Mississippi State. No. 13 national seed Coastal Carolina (48-11) brings an 18-game streak into its home regional. The Chanticleers swept the Sun Belt regular-season and tournament titles under Kevin Schnall, who took over for longtime coach Gary Gilmore this year. They open against Fairfield. Columbia (29-17) has won nine in a row and 16 of 17. The Ivy League champions are a No. 4 regional seed and meet No. 16 national seed Southern Mississippi. Arizona State (35-22) and Kentucky (29-24) each have lost four straight. The Sun Devils are batting .266 with a total of 12 runs and two homers over their past four and are coming off a 2-0 loss to BYU in the Big 12 Tournament. The Wildcats lost their final regular-season series against No. 1 national seed Vanderbilt by a total of four runs and then lost 5-1 to Oklahoma in the SEC Tournament. Still waiting East Carolina (33-25), which received the American Athletic's automatic bid by winning the conference tournament as a No. 6 seed, has never reached the College World Series in 34 previous NCAA Tournament appearances, the longest streak of its kind. The Pirates are in the field for the ninth time in 10 years. Clemson (44-16) has never won a national championship, or finished as runner-up, in 46 previous appearances. The curse of the No. 1 national seed was finally broken last year when Tennessee won the national championship. Before that, the only No. 1 to win it all was Miami in 1999. Welcome to the party Big South Tournament champion USC Upstate, a full Division I member since 2011, is making its tournament debut. The Spartans are second in the nation in scoring at 9.7 runs per game, and Johnny Sweeney is third in RBIs (81) and Scott Campbell is 17th in batting average (.400). They open at No. 11 national seed Clemson, just over an hour southwest of their Spartanburg, South Carolina, campus. Toughest regional The Oxford Regional, hosted by Mississippi, gets the nod. The Rebels earned the No. 10 national seed after winning three games in the SEC Tournament to reach the final, where it lost 3-2 to Vanderbilt. They expect to get back No. 3 starter Mason Nichols and right fielder Ryan Moerman from injury. Their opponent, Murray State (39-13), is in the tournament for the first time since 2003 after winning the Missouri Valley Tournament. The Racers had a three-run lead against the Rebels in Oxford on March 5 before losing 8-7 in 10 innings. Georgia Tech (40-17), the No. 2 regional seed, is the first ACC regular-season champion since 1999 to not host. The Yellow Jackets are matched against Western Kentucky (46-12), which set a school record for wins and has the Conference USA player and newcomer of the year in Ryan Wideman and pitcher of the year in Drew Whalen. No guarantees Regional hosts have advanced to super regionals 66.8% of the time (267 of 400) since the tournament went to its current format in 1999. Last year, 10 hosts won regionals. The fewest hosts to advance were seven in 2007 and 2014, eight in 2018 and nine in 2017 and 2023. Feeling a draft Eleven projected first-round picks in the Major League Baseball amateur draft are in the tournament, including four of the top six, according to analyst Jim Callis. Heading the group are three left-handed pitchers: Tennessee's Liam Doyle (2), LSU's Kade Anderson (3) and Florida State's Jamie Arnold (5). Next are Oregon State SS Aiva Arquette (6), Oklahoma RHP Kyson Witherspoon (11), North Carolina C Luke Stevenson (16), Tennessee 2B Gavin Kilen (18), Wake Forest SS Marek Houston (19), Arizona OF Brendan Summerhill (20), Auburn OF-C Ike Irish (21) and Southern Mississippi RHP J.B. Middleton (22). Duck's dingers Oregon center fielder and leadoff man Mason Neville is first in the nation in homers with a school-record 26, and 42 of his 61 hits have gone for extra bases. But Neville enters regionals just 2 for his last 27, and he has gone a season-high five straight games without a homer. Who is this guy? The best player you've probably never heard of is Northeastern left-handed pitcher Will Jones. The 6-foot-5, 215-pound graduate student is second in the nation with a 1.82 ERA and third in wins with an 11-0 record. He has been part of five of the Huskies' nation-leading 17 shutouts. Jones had Tommy John surgery when he was in high school in Southampton, Massachusetts, and didn't throw a pitch his first two seasons with the Huskies. He threw in 48 innings over 21 appearances, including two starts, in 2023 and '24. He has pitched 69 1/3 innings this season with 72 strikeouts, and his 11 wins are a school record. Geography lesson
