The Atlanta Braves are 1-7 after finally winning their first game of the season on Friday night. Atlanta's first win is long overdue, with the team fumbling away leads in both San Diego and Los Angeles. Both the clubhouse and fanbase can breathe a sigh of relief and begin to wonder about their chances of climbing out of an early hole. Atlanta is aided by the fact that the league has recently added an additional wildcard spot.
With months of the season still to go, Atlanta should have every reason to hope their talented roster can turn the season around. If the Braves are going to turn the year around and get back to their expected potential, it is going to require the team to defy league history.
No Team in MLB history Started 0-7 and Made the Postseason
Considering the league's extensive history, it is concerning that no other team has ever matched Atlanta's start and made the postseason. Still, there is reason to believe in this roster's talent. The pending returns of Spencer Strider and 2023 MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. will answer many of the team's depth concerns.
Not only this, but Friday's win is a blueprint of what the Braves were expected to be this season. Starter Spencer Schwellenbach set the tone early and helped take the pressure off Atlanta's offense. The Braves responded by scoring ten runs, and Schwellenbach coasted for eight innings in a dominating performance.
Leaning on starting pitching and a deep lineup wearing down starters with their unrelenting approach is who Atlanta has been and was expected to be this season. Throw away the first week of the season and consider it an outlier as the team's worst week of the season. Yes, the start was alarming and frustrating as the Braves continued to invent ways to lose.
However, there are over 150 games remaining, and Atlanta still has one of the ten most talented rosters in the league. It is a roster that will soon get back Strider and Acuna, and catcher Sean Murphy as well. If there was ever a team that was going to make history and become the first team to survive a 0-7 start, it would be the 2025 Atlanta Braves.