Going in to this season’s spring training, if you asked a Braves fan what they would think of their team being in first place in the NL East along with the 4th best record in baseball at the All-Star break….I guarantee you they would say the first half of the year was a success.
Yet here we are on July 14, 2026 — all of those things are true. Yet, there is seemingly more pessimism rather than optimism for the second half.
Two things can still be true. The first half of the season, especially the months of April and May, could be characterized as historically great. The Braves jumped out to a huge lead in the NL East and appeared to be early season runaway favorites to represent the National League in the World Series.
Atlanta proceeded to go 9-14 in June though. Early season bright spots came down to Earth. Dom Smith, with his early season heroics, finally slowed down. MVP level starts from All-Stars Drake Baldwin and Matt Olson started to cool off. Pitchers like Bryce Elder — at one time among the top of MLB in ERA — have now regressed tremendously. Add that on top of the absences of Spencer Strider, Ronald Acuna Jr, Ha-Seong Kim, and other pitchers still yet to make their appearance in 2026: the optics for the rest of the season appear bleak.
This doesn’t mean the Braves can’t turn it around. In 2021 Atlanta had a losing record at the All-Star break. We all know what happened after that.
General manager Alex Anthopoulos made some trades at the deadline to acquire players like Joc Pederson, Jorge Soler, and Eddie Rosario culminating in a World Series Championship.
Now all eyes are on Anthopoulos once again to make the right moves. History says the Braves GM will go bargain hunting. It’s been a theme for the Braves for years now — find cheap assets at the deadline without giving away much and ride it out.
For a team with World Series aspirations, that might not be enough in 2026. The Phillies and Marlins have now dwindled the Braves NL East lead to under 5 games. Tarik Skubal remains the elephant in room regarding that big fish Atlanta could pursue. Right now, it looks like his services might not be convenient, but necessary.
Right now it’s been a game of revolving chairs for the Braves pitching staff. So far the only sure thing has been Chris Sale. Outside of that, it’s been the injury bug plaguing this staff again.
Martin Perez is out. Hurston Waldrep is still rehabbing, so is Aj Smith-Shawver and Spencer Schwellenbach. If all these pitchers, along with others, return to their peak form this team will be just fine in October. But will they?
It’s a big game of what if. The Braves are still in prime position right now and the All-Star break couldn’t have come at a better time. Will they turn it around and resort back to the team we saw the first two months of the season? Or will we face another lost season without the playoffs with Alex Anthopoulos potentially on the hot seat. Time will tell.
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