Braves continue to get 'best version' of veteran newcomers

This story was excerpted from Mark Bowman’s Braves Beat newsletter. This edition was written by MLB.com's Matthew Ritchie. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

NEW YORK -- Just one day before legendary Atlanta rap group OutKast dropped its seminal 1998 album "Aquemini," Walt Weiss was putting the finishing touches on his first campaign with the Braves at 34 years old in his 12th year in the big leagues. Weiss had won the AL Rookie of the Year with the Athletics in 1988, but it wasn’t until that first season in Atlanta that the former shortstop earned his only All-Star selection, slashing .280/.386/.343 on one of the more famous squads of the 1990s.

During the Braves’ series against the Mets this past weekend, Atlanta’s current manager was asked about why there seems to be a tradition of veteran players finding a welcoming and productive home in the organization.

“It’s hard to say,” Weiss said. “I do think even going back to the times when I played, Atlanta typically tends to get the best version of guys. I do think there’s something to do with the winning culture here, and I think it elevates a player’s game. We’ve done a lot of winning here over the [past] few decades.

“So, when I think guys come in, it’s infectious. And their mindset is just trying to help us continue to win.”

This 2026 Braves team fits neatly into that legacy. A slew of newcomers -- Mauricio Dubón, Dominic Smith, Martín Pérez, Mike Yastrzemski and Jorge Mateo -- have joined the fray to make positive contributions up and down the lineup, all across the field.

And for a club that’s bolted out to the best record in the Majors with a first-year manager and a number of high-profile names like Ronald Acuña Jr., Spencer Strider and Sean Murphy on the injured list, there’s an uncanny timing to the first-time Braves’ biggest moments this season. And they feel it too once they arrive.

“When I was on different teams and I saw this team playing, the way they enjoy the game -- it’s different than other teams,” Pérez said on Saturday after tossing 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball to help stop a three-game losing streak. “So, I got here, and it felt like I was here before. It made me feel good.”

It’d be easy enough just to point to cumulative totals like fWAR to quantify the impact of the new players’ infusion. Pérez is third in fWAR among Braves starters with 0.8 -- behind Chris Sale and Bryce Elder -- and lowered his ERA to 2.90 after Saturday’s 3-1 win -- his lowest mark through 14 games in his career since 2022. Dubón is fifth among position players with 1.5 fWAR, with Smith and Yastrzemski trailing behind as statistically positive presences.

But digging into situational splits reveals that there may be a clutch gene coursing through this set of players, who seem uniquely equipped to bridging the gap and lengthening Atlanta’s lineup. Dubón, who was acquired in November from the Astros, might be the most sterling example: he’s hitting .339 with 32 RBIs in 65 plate appearances with runners in scoring position. When it gets to two outs with runners in scoring position, he gets even better, sporting a .379 average and 1.162 OPS.

Smith is similarly clutch, slashing .325/.326/.577 with three home runs and 26 RBIs in 47 plate appearances with runners in scoring position, with no bigger example than his walk-off grand slam in his Atlanta debut on March 29. Same with Yastrzemski, who is hitting above .300 with RISP after arriving from a stellar second half of 2025 in Kansas City. Even in small sample sizes, the speedster Mateo -- who signed with the Braves following five seasons in Baltimore from 2021-25 -- has gone 4-for-10 with RISP and two outs.

“I mean, we’re dogs, man, we’re dogs,” Dubón said. “Dom hasn’t got a good chance to go out there and show. I never had a good chance to go out there, and I knew it. We’ve got Mateo over here doing his thing now. … Now we’re getting the chance with Walt. He’s trusting us to go out there, and putting us in the right spot for us to have success. And it’s showing, man.”

Hitting, for all its evolution and intricacies, is still contagious. You could see it on Friday, when Smith and Yastrzemski both notched two-strike RBI singles with two outs in the second inning, as the Braves offense threatened to explode again. When it comes from a slew of newcomers that have bought in from day one, it becomes inspiring.

“I think they really understand the situation and have an honest approach in those situations to get the job done,” Michael Harris II said. “They don’t really give in to the pitcher. I mean, even if they do, they’re just fighting off to get a better pitch on the next one and get the job done. They’ve done that numerous times this season, and I can see them continue to do that throughout the rest of the season as well.”