Mark Wiedmer
To glimpse the Atlanta Braves on the night of May 23 was to briefly believe in comebacks, if not miracles. That was the Friday night that Ronald Acuna Jr. returned to play for the first time this season from his long rehab from knee surgery and sent the first pitch he faced in the opening inning some 467 feet into the Truist Field centerfield stands against San Diego.
Never mind that that was the only run the Braves produced in that 2-1 loss. Acuna also got a single that night.
Then he followed that the next day with another home run, which sparked a 7-1 Braves triumph to pull them within one game of .500 on the season (25-26) after that atrocious 0-7 start.
Atlanta has started slow before and rallied to win East Divisions, as well as a world championship in 2022 without the assistance of the insanely talented Acuna Jr., who also suffered a season-ending injury that summer.
Could this be another late charge to a championship?
And the Braves certainly seemed to view it as an omen that weekend.
“That home run yesterday, I feel like it ignited us a little bit,” said pitcher Grant Holmes after the lone win the Braves will post over San Diego this season.”We didn’t come out with a win, but I feel like that kind of got us going. I feel like he’s just that type of guy that’s going to continue to do that.”
Uh, not exactly. In the eight games the Braves have played since that Saturday afternoon win over the Padres, the club has won two and lost six. The current record of 27-32 is the fourth worst in the National League, trailing only Miami, Pittsburgh and awful Colorado.
When you’re closer to the bottom of the league than the top after 59 games, when eight NL teams currently have winning records, the odds of making the NL playoffs is somewhere between slim and none.
Certainly, Atlanta has its excuses. Spencer Strider, as witnessed Tuesday night when he gave up three home runs to the Diamondbacks, is a long way from the dominant strikeout machine he was before his second right elbow surgery. There’s Acuna’s return from a second ACL injury. The bullpen has been a disappointment almost from the start and the timely hitting hasn’t been much better. The lone reason for hope in Braves Country is that other than Atlanta (+8), the pitching-challenged Cincinnati Reds are the only other NL bottom feeder to have a positive run differential.
That certainly doesn’t mean the Braves can bounce back this season. It does mean that should all these injuries to key personnel abate, Atlanta just might find itself back among the NL’s elite this time next year.
Until then, as manager Brian Snitker noted Tuesday night while addressing Strider’s slow return to dominance: “It just doesn't come back overnight. I wish it would. I know [Strider] does, but it's a tough process.”
After 32 losses in 59 games, it almost assuredly figures to be a long, tough summer in the Big Peach.
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Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@mccallie.org