The first two weeks of the 2026 season have gone much better for the Braves than the first two weeks of 2025.
Last year, Atlanta started 0-7 and was 3-10 after 13 games. This year, they're 8-5, own the best ERA in baseball and are coming off a daunting stretch of 13 games in 13 days to open the season.
A lot has gone well, but there have been surprises, too -- both good and bad. And those surprises lead to some questions. As the Braves prepare to begin a homestand Friday against the Guardians, here are five things to ponder after the first two weeks.
Is Austin Riley OK now?
After having one of the best Spring Trainings of his life (1.237 OPS), Riley has struggled mightily since the bell rang on the regular season. Entering this week's series against the Angels, he was hitting .176 with a .469 OPS and just two RBIs. Perhaps more alarming was his hard-hit rate, which was just 28 percent (MLB average is 37 percent) and a slew of popups and soft grounders.
But Riley collected two hits and an RBI on Tuesday and reached base six times in the series, scoring four runs. And, perhaps most importantly, he put multiple balls in play at more than 100 mph. After two seasons defined by injury and underperformance, Riley is showing signs that the version of himself we saw from 2021-2023 -- the MVP-candidate version who re-emerged in Spring Training, and the one the Braves signed to a 10-year, $212 million extension -- could be about to return.
Is Ronald Acuña Jr. about to get hot?
Acuña had two homers and a .962 OPS in the World Baseball Classic to help lead Venezuela to a championship, signaling that he's fully recovered from his second ACL surgery and that another monster season could be in store for the 2023 NL MVP. That success hasn't translated to the regular season, however, at least not in his traditional stats.
Through Wednesday, Acuña was hitting .204 with no homers and a .575 OPS, thanks in part to a lot of first-pitch groundouts and popups. But some hard luck is also to blame, especially over the past few games. Acuña's expected slugging percentage -- a metric based on the quality of contact -- is .515, ranking in the top 10 percent of MLB hitters. However, his actual slugging percentage is just .265. That's a difference of 250 percentage points, the fourth-largest differential in baseball.
That .515 expected number is also in line with Acuña's actual slugging percentage from last season, when he had a .935 OPS in 90 games after returning from his ACL rehab in late May. So, based on Acuña's contact quality, a hot streak could be imminent. But speaking of bad luck ...
Will Michael Harris II's luck turn around?
Harris has had it even worse than Acuña in terms of hard-hit balls going for outs. The difference between his expected slugging percentage (.572) and actual slugging percentage (.298) is 274 points, the second-highest differential in the Majors.
Harris' average exit velocity is 93.5 mph, which would easily be a career high. He's had 19 batted balls of 95 mph or higher -- more than Shohei Ohtani, Oneil Cruz and a number of other players known for their rockets. Of Harris' 19 hard-hit balls, only seven went for hits, with a 111.6 mph single being his hardest-hit ball of the season.
We've seen this before with Harris. Last season, he had 78 batted balls of 100 mph or higher that were outs, the ninth-highest total among all MLB hitters. Given these numbers, there's still a lot of "what if?" when it comes to his ceiling. Add in his elite defense and he's still seen by some as a potential MVP candidate. But he'll need a lot more of those lasers to find grass -- or the seats.
Can Drake Baldwin be stopped?
Baldwin has not slowed down one bit since winning NL Rookie of the Year last season. If anything, he's throttled up. He ended Wednesday leading the Braves and the Majors with 15 RBIs and tied for the MLB lead with five homers.
His 1.013 OPS leads the team, as do his 17 hits and .390 on-base percentage. He's handled lefties and righties with almost equal ease and has emerged as the team's weight-bearing run producer amid the early slumps of Riley and Acuña. In other words, the Braves probably aren't 8-5 with Baldwin's contributions.
Of course, Baldwin probably can't maintain this pace all season. Or can he? A downturn is probably bound to happen, but, given the bat skills he's displayed for the past year, it's not something that would be cause for concern.
Will the rotation continue to hold the line?
Given the uncertainty around the Braves' seemingly glued-together starting rotation after the injuries to Spencer Schwellenbach (elbow) and Spencer Strider (oblique), nobody would've expected Atlanta to own the Majors' best ERA after two weeks. But that's where the Braves are after enduring a stretch of 13 games in 13 days to open the season and emerging with a 2.03 ERA.
Chris Sale (3.94 ERA) has been his usual self, aside from a six-run blip against the Angels on Monday, while Reynaldo Lopéz (1.15 ERA), Grant Holmes (2.55 ERA) and Bryce Elder (0.00 ERA) have done their parts. There's still a question who will settle into the No. 5 spot, but with Strider progressing and expected back by the end of the month, it's possible the Braves' rotation won't end up being the weak spot it was assumed to be.
Then again, the rotation doesn't need to carry all the weight if Atlanta's bullpen continues with its early-season showing that has produced an MLB-best 0.82 ERA. Similarly, if the offense continues to slug at its current rate -- .750 OPS, even without much from Acuña and Riley -- the Braves and their fans could have a fun summer in store.
Bonus: Can Bryce Elder become an All-Star again?
A big reason for Atlanta's low ERA so far is Elder, who has yet to allow an earned run in 13 innings. In fact, the only two runs the righty has allowed came on his own throwing error during a 2-1 loss to the Diamondbacks last week.
Since an All-Star appearance in 2023, Elder has battled inconsistency to the tune of a 5.59 ERA the past two seasons. But since working with Hall of Famer Greg Maddux to develop a cutter and continuing to hone his slider and changeup, Elder's arsenal has evolved and made him a more mature and effective pitcher in the early going.
A 0.00 ERA is obviously not sustainable, but could another All-Star season be in the offing? That would certainly be a welcomed development for the Braves, and perhaps represent a major step forward in Elder's career.