Braves hoping hot stretch carries over into 2026

ATLANTA -- Austin Riley will end his season on the injured list, but he is still in the Braves clubhouse on a daily basis, still around his teammates, still observing everything. And over the last week and a half, he’s noticed something really encouraging.

“Being in the clubhouse, the free-ness, especially the hitters, you can just tell they’re free and able to just go out there and play the game, and that’s when good things happen, you go on a 10-game winning streak,” Riley said before Friday’s series opener against the Pirates at Truist Park.

The Braves, who will spend October at home for the first time since 2017, recently went on a 10-game winning streak during which they looked like the team we expected all along. And despite Friday’s 9-3 loss to the Pirates, they’ve won 10 of their last 12. They are eliminated from postseason contention and have nothing left to play for, but perhaps their hot stretch to end the season can fuel them into 2026.

“A lot of these guys will be on the team next year, and it will kind of keep us close and know our true identity going into next year, and kind of remember these things that we’re doing right now to start off the season hot next year,” said Michael Harris II, who homered in the sixth inning to reach the 20-homer, 20-steal mark for the first time in his career.

The Braves’ confidence comes from the same place it did when last season ended: They’ll have a talented core back to hopefully help lead them to the postseason.

Harris, Riley, Matt Olson and Ronald Acuña Jr. are all expected to help anchor Atlanta’s lineup next year. Jurickson Profar will be back, and this time should have a full season. In the rotation, the Braves will feature Spencer Strider, a healthy Spencer Schwellenbach and likely Chris Sale (club option for 2026).

But the Braves were blindsided this season by a ton of injuries -- again. They cannot control that. But maybe they’re more prepared to better handle the adversity of a 162-game season.

“Everybody knows the season is long, everybody knows what the ultimate goal is: We’re trying to make the playoffs, we’re trying to win a World Series,” Strider said before Friday’s game. “To do those things, you’re going to confront the adversity of injuries, of travel issues, of rain, of teams that are better than you, of teams that are playing better than you, of slumps, etc. And anticipating all those things allows you to make them into opportunities that improve you, and also not become these roadblocks. Injuries are inevitable, slumps are inevitable ...

“So at some point, you obviously can’t control what you can’t control, but you can anticipate what you know is going to happen. And I think it’s just difficult. There’s obviously a lot of factors and variables in winning a Major League Baseball game on a daily basis and being your best self. And like I said, to turn those external variables into things that don’t harm you so much, you have to control what you can control to the best of your ability. That, in a lot of cases, is not just your physical routine or your physical work, it’s your mental work and your self-talk and your short-term goals and focus on improvement.”

The main question for Atlanta in its immediate future: Will Brian Snitker manage the team in 2026? Snitker on Friday said he was only focused on the day at hand and would reflect on his future after the season. If he does manage, he’ll be confident in the group he leads.

“You don’t know what next year’s going to bring, but when we start, we’re going to be healthy -- I hope,” Snitker said. “You just look at it, this team’s got a chance of being really good again. You hope the health gods shine on us after two years of not.”

With this being a lost season, the Braves are ready for 2026.

They expect a similar-looking team to gather in North Port, Fla., next February -- which they believe is a positive development.

“I think a lot of guys are going to be back,” Riley said. “It’s a game of failure. The way I look at it is, like, these types of years only callous you to be a better player, be a better person. … I think guys are going to be itching to get to spring. We haven’t had a good year, by far, but I still believe in this clubhouse. I still think this is a really good team that can make a postseason run and ultimately win [a World Series]. I really believe that.”