ATLANTA -- The Braves have lost more than half of their past 45 games, and there is a need for them to add a playoff-caliber starting pitcher before Monday’s 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline. Yet, they possess a comfortable division lead, at least two players who will draw their fair share of NL MVP votes and a rejuvenated starting pitcher.
So what are the Braves' players hoping president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos does before the Deadline?
“Honestly, we have no control of that,” Braves center fielder Michael Harris II said. “So we go out there with whoever we have. Obviously in the past, [Anthopoulos has] done what he's done and got a World Series out of it. So we have to have enough trust in him to put together a great team for us.”
Minus a rough June, the Braves have looked both good and great for most of this year. The latter adjective would have been the more fitting one to describe how they played in a 6-2 win over the Nationals on Friday night at Truist Park. Harris and Matt Olson both homered to back Bryce Elder, whose three post-All-Star break starts have lessened the rotation concerns.
“Bryce has become reliable, and that's a huge compliment,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said.
Elder has allowed just four earned runs over 17 innings in the three starts he's made since the All-Star break. He stumbled while producing an 11.00 ERA over his final four starts before the break. But this is the same guy who exited his June 7 start with a 2.71 ERA over a 21-start stretch that spanned back to Aug. 24, 2025.
Elder and Cy Young Award candidate Chris Sale have both completed six or more innings 13 times this year. Grant Holmes (five), Martín Pérez (two), Spencer Strider (two), Reynaldo López (one) and JR Ritchie (one) have combined to do so 11 times for the Braves this year.
This stat highlights the need for Anthopoulos to bolster this injury-depleted rotation. With the addition of Tarik Skubal, Logan Webb or another available frontline starter, the Braves would suddenly become legit World Series contenders.
Even with their starting rotation ranking 25th in the Majors with a 4.87 ERA over the past 45 games, the Braves are in good shape.
The Braves (65-45) have won 10 of 15 since the All-Star break. Their eight-game lead in the National League East is their largest since June 14. Atlanta has gone 21-24 since June 9. But its lead has diminished by just one game during this 45-game span.
“We came out the other side of that tough stretch still in first place,” Weiss said. “We're still in first place now. So credit to the guys in that room.”
Atlanta’s top two MVP candidates are Olson and Harris, who entered Friday ranked tied for 23rd among NL players with 2.9 fWAR (tied with Zack Wheeler and Mason Miller). Their consistent production has kept the team afloat while Ronald Acuña Jr. missed significant time and Drake Baldwin struggled for a few weeks after a monthlong stint on the IL.
Olson’s first-inning homer was his 29th, matching his season total from both of the past two years. He and Kyle Schwarber are the only MLB players to hit 29 or more homers each of the past six seasons. Pete Alonso, Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani are the only other players who could join this group.
Harris’ three-run homer off Nationals starter Foster Griffin was his 20th of the season, matching the career high he set last year.
“I've been playing with [Harris] since 2021 [in the Minors],” Elder said. “He's probably the first guy I ever saw that was like, ‘I don't know what a big leaguer looks like, but that's him.’”
As these two future stars were experiencing their first full professional seasons, Anthopoulos was making a flurry of trades that helped the Braves win the 2021 World Series. He also made significant Deadline moves in 2018 and ‘19.
Will he work some of that same magic this year?
“That’s something we can’t control,” Elder said. “I think we could roll the guys out there we’ve got now and win a lot of ballgames to make a run at it. So whatever we decide to do, great. But the 26 [players] we got right now, I think we’re pretty tough.”