SAN DIEGO -- The Braves returned from a West Coast swing on May 10 leading the Majors in both runs scored (228) and OPS (.784). By the end of May, they had dropped to second in runs scored (316) and third in OPS (.761).
Even with this injury-influenced late May decline, it was hard to envision how much worse things would get this month. The Braves suffered a 1-0 loss to the Padres on Monday night at Petco Park and now own an MLB-worst .634 OPS in June.
“That’s surprising,” manager Walt Weiss said of the June ranking. “Our offense is going to be fine. It's a good offense. It’s the cycle of a season. Offenses go through it more than any other aspect of a team, the ups and downs.”
What has gone wrong?
Well, there’s plenty of factors at play. But it’s not a coincidence that the offensive decline has coincided with the absences of Ronald Acuña Jr. and Drake Baldwin.
Acuña returned from his first injured list stint on May 19, the same day Baldwin was placed on the IL. Baldwin returned from the IL on June 16, exactly one week after Acuña reinjured his left hamstring and went back on the IL.
It doesn’t help that Michael Harris II has also missed a handful of games this month because of lower back discomfort.
But what really hurts is Baldwin has gone 1-for-25 with 15 strikeouts since hitting MLB’s longest homer of the season in his first plate appearance back from the IL. His struggles have created more reason to question the team’s decision to end his one-month IL stint after he played just one Minor League rehab game.
“Just trying to get back into the speed of a big league game,” Baldwin said. “I’m just trying to find the timing and get back into the flow of it.”
Baldwin went 0-for-4 with a career-high four strikeouts on Monday night. The 2025 NL Rookie of the Year has struck out three-plus times in three of the six games he has played since being activated. He struck out three-plus times in just three of the 169 games he played before going on the IL, dating back to last year.
“That carousel is going fast when you try to jump back on after missing time,” Weiss said. “That's all I see with Baldwin. He'll be fine. He's a great hitter. It only takes being a tick off in this league to struggle. I think that’s all it is.”
Good signs from Riley?
Austin Riley will need more than just a good game or two to create confidence he is turning the corner. But with a three-hit night on Monday, the third baseman is hitting .391 (9-for-23) with a .826 OPS over his past six games. This stretch doesn’t include any extra-base hits. But it seems like the timing might be returning for the two-time All-Star.
Riley singled against Michael King’s slider in the second inning and against his fastball in the seventh. He also singled against Mason Miller’s 87.2 mph slider in the ninth. He just got his bat on the ball against Miller’s hard breaking ball, but he produced 100-plus mph exit velocities on the two singles against King.
“Riley had one of his better games offensively in a while,” Weiss said. “He swung the bat well against some tough right-handed pitchers. King is tough on righties, and of course he got the hit off Miller. Miller has been one of the most dominant, if not the most dominant pitcher in the game, especially against righties.”
The Braves had one of the game’s best offenses, despite Riley struggling through the early part of the season. If he can turn things around, he could again be a great asset by the time the lineup gets healthy.
Not all bad
Ozzie Albies homered twice on Saturday and seems to be seeing the ball as well as he has at any point over the past few years. His .838 OPS in June ranks third on the team, trailing Matt Olson (.860) and Mauricio Dubon (.867). Harris has produced a respectable .772 OPS this month.
But it’s been a rough month for Dominic Smith (.481 OPS) and Mike Yastrzemski (.521 OPS). Shortstop Ha-Seong Kim’s offensive struggles have made him a $20 million bench player. But Jorge Mateo, who is currently getting most of the starts at short, has gone just 3-for-25 with a double in June.