It is not often that a team expected to compete for a World Series title is one of the worst teams in the league through the first couple weeks of the MLB season. This is exactly the case for Brian Snitker and the Atlanta Braves who have fallen to a 2-8 start after losing a one-run game to the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday.
The most frustrating part of the Braves’ nightmare start to 2025 is that the majority of their losses could have been avoided. For the most part, Atlanta is staying competitive in games and there seems to be one major offensive flaw that continues to bite them.
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Braves manager Brian Snitker downplays RISP issue
The Atlanta Braves had 10 hits as a team on Wednesday night and had a total of 15 baserunners. Based on this knowledge, one would assume that a crooked number was posted in the run column for Atlanta but that was not the case.
Brian Snitker’s ball club only plated three runs and left a total of 12 runners on base. On two separate occasions, the Braves loaded the bases and were unable to score. Both of these situations took place with Austin Riley at the plate which saw the third baseman’s 2025 struggles continue.
Riley is expected to be a major run producer in the middle of Atlanta’s lineup but he has severely underperformed this season, especially in big spots and runners on base. When Snitker was asked about Riley’s missed opportunities in his post-game press conference, it sounded like he is really out of answers for this team right now.
“It’s baseball,” Snitker started. “I’m sure nobody feels worse about it than he does… You want to be up there with the bases loaded. It’s not going to work out all the time, but you want to put yourself in that position.”
At this point, it feels like the Braves continue to put themselves in prime positions to score runs but do not come through. Snitker’s tone indicates that he feels like the tide will just magically turn and hitters will start coming through in big spots. Patience is an important characteristic to have, but quite frankly it’s too late to play the “it’s early” card given the extreme struggles Atlanta is facing.