Atlanta Braves starter Chris Sale battled through six strong innings, allowing a single earned run in another great night of work. The Braves rewarded the veteran with zero run support and another loss the starter didn't deserve. While a lot of attention is going to be focused on Brian Snitker's late decision to use Raisel Iglesias yet again (an issue I wrote about here), the game was lost in an 8th inning that perfectly illustrated what is wrong with this team. The inning started with Alex Verdugo singling and promptly being replaced by pinch runner Eli White.
Veteran catcher Sean Murphy singled White to third and would be replaced by Luke Williams, who promptly stole second. The stage was set for the Braves with two runners in scoring position and no one out. Back-to-back strikeouts would end the threat, Austin Riley providing the frame's final out. It was a moment that you could almost see coming for a team that time and time again fumbles away clear scoring opportunities. The latest egregious example serves as the clear reason why this team's season has gone awry.
Wednesday's Braves Hitting Failures Was the Perfect Example of Why Atlanta is Freefalling
Yes, there is a lot of blame to go around when looking at reasons why the Braves' season hasn't gone according to plan. One could easily point to the front office that remained silent throughout the majority of the 2025 season. Bringing us to Jurickson Profar, who was the team's one noteworthy addition and was promptly suspended only four games into the year. One could also point to the years of letting star players walk away if they didn't sign team-friendly deals. Perhaps losing Max Fried was the last straw that pushed the team over the edge.
Regardless of which reasons you want to highlight, last night's hitting failures were one of the best examples of what is wrong with this team. It is a group of power hitters with zero ability to play situational baseball. You cannot trust a single bat in the lineup to put the ball in play when the team needs it most.
It is what was bound to happen for a team that was consistently leaving the fundamentals of hitting behind to focus on the home run ball. We see this in the results up-and-down the Atlanta lineup resulting in the team being unable to take advantage of scoring opportunities.
This is far from the first time the Braves have been in such a situation and failed to take advantage. It was the perfect example of what has gone wrong with the lineup and why Atlanta fans have no faith in a once-great offense.
A lack of ability to put the ball in play or execute the simplest of the fundamentals of hitting is ruining a lineup that was expected to be among the league's best. While this is in no way to suggest returning to the unbearable "unwritten rules" or to take the fun and joy out of the game, it does point out the overwhelming regression throughout the league.
Atlanta's lineup is suffering more than most, however, it is a trend that goes much further with averages continuing to dip. Until the Braves are willing to stop playing hero ball and make the needed adjustments, the team's struggles at the plate and freefall through the National League will unfortunately continue.