The Atlanta Braves have led the NL East for virtually the entire season, and after splitting their series in Philadelphia, they now have a 4.0-game lead over the Phillies and own the tiebreaker. In other words, the Braves are heavy favorites to win the NL East, and even if they somehow fail to do so, making the playoffs shouldn't be an issue.
Getting to the postseason isn't their ultimate goal, though. The Braves are trying to win a World Series title, but doing so will be easier said than done. These four concerns could be standing in their way come October.
4. Lineup depth
The Braves' lineup is star-studded, with guys like Ronald Acuña Jr., Drake Baldwin, Matt Olson and Michael Harris II in the thick of it. What about everybody else, though? Lineups run nine deep, but when watching the Braves, it hasn't felt that way for much of the year, given how their depth has struggled.
Austin Riley has gone from solidified superstar to frustrating liability with a .661 OPS and a 31.6 percent strikeout rate this season. Ozzie Albies' season got off to a roaring start, but he has a .660 OPS since the start of May, watching his OPS drop from .908 at the end of April to .716 entering Tuesday's action. Mauricio Dubon, a league-average bat at best, has been hitting fifth consistently against righties because of how weak this lineup has been.
If the Braves get star production from their stars, they should be fine, but if not, they could be in a heap of trouble because of how lackluster the rest of their lineup has been.
3. Bullpen
Much of the Braves' early-season success could be attributed to the bullpen. Atlanta's bullpen has been among the best for much of the season and still ranks third in the majors in ERA (3.46). With that being said, they rank 16th in ERA in the second half (3.96), and there're some concerns worth highlighting.
Robert Suarez, Atlanta's primary set-up man, has been out since late June with right elbow inflammation and it remains to be seen when he'll be back and how he'll perform. Dylan Lee has struggled mightily of late and has been limited to just one appearance in September as Atlanta tries to scale back his workload. He's already made 66 appearances, 14 more than any other Braves reliever.
Didier Fuentes has had an outstanding season seemingly out of nowhere, but how will he, an inexperienced reliever who just turned 21 years old recently, perform in high-leverage situations when it really matters? Even Raisel Iglesias, Atlanta's closer, hit a bit of a rough patch in August before bouncing back lately. This unit is quite good when it's whole, but there're reasons to be at least somewhat concerned when it comes to this team protecting late leads.
2. Inconsistent performances from star position players
As mentioned above, the Braves are built around position player stars, and for the most part, they're having good years. Olson, Harris and Baldwin all have OPS figures above .800, and while Acuña is a bit shy of that mark, he's been hot of late and obviously has a track record worth betting on. With that being said, these stars have all been inconsistent.
Olson had a ridiculous first half, but he's gone 2-for-23 with 10 strikeouts in September, and if you want to go back a bit further, he has five hits in his last 43 at-bats in his last 11 games. He's struck out at least once in each of those contests, and he's hit .163 with two home runs and 29 strikeouts in his last 99 plate appearances. Harris has gone 3-for-20 in September. Baldwin has been better of late, but he had a 3-for-48 stretch in June.
It's one thing for the bottom of the order to be inconsistent, but the Braves need their stars to be consistent in October. If Olson and Acuña, in particular, cannot be consistently awesome in October, it'll be hard to take the Braves seriously.
1. Rotation beyond Chris Sale
Chris Sale has had an unbelievable year and would probably be the NL Cy Young runner-up if the season ended today. He's a starter the Braves should trust against any opponent. The problem, though, is that Sale is a starting pitcher. He has a major impact on the games he starts, but he cannot start every single game. The Braves will need others to step up, and is there anyone you can trust?
Tyler Mahle has been brilliant since coming to the Braves at the deadline and would probably be the favorite to start a potential Game 2 of a postseason series, but this is a guy who the Giants practically gave away to Atlanta at the deadline since he had an ERA over 5.00 with poor underlying metrics. Grant Holmes pitched well his last time out and has been pretty solid of late, but he has a strikeout rate under 19 percent this season and has particularly struggled when facing hitters for a second time.
Martin Perez has an even lower strikeout rate (18.0 percent) and pairs that with his highest walk rate since 2020 and a FIP (4.31) that's over a run higher than his ERA (3.25). AJ Smith-Shawver has upside, but he's made only four big-league starts this season and hasn't pitched particularly well in two or three of them. Bryce Elder has already been moved to the bullpen. Reynaldo Lopez is nearing a return from the IL, but while he's a decent option, is he really going to complete five or six innings consistently in October?
Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Walrep have already been ruled out for the year, and there's a good chance Spencer Strider won't throw another pitch in 2026 either. That leaves the Braves rotation with Sale and a whole bunch of question marks behind him. The Braves' rotation has held up well despite its injury woes in the regular season, but the postseason is a different beast. The Braves will be sure to use Sale two or three times in any best-of-seven series, but for them to win it all, they'll need other starters to step up. I'm not sure if I trust a single other starter to do so.
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