3 Braves players who are on thin ice the last two months of the season

What a frustrating season this has been for the Atlanta Braves. Sure, they're 66-58 as of this writing and hold a Wild Card spot, but Atlanta was supposed to be much better than this. The main reason they haven't been isn't even fully in their control. Virtually every main contributor not named Marcell Ozuna, Matt Olson, and somehow Chris Sale *knock on wood* has missed time due to injury. Austin Riley's update was the latest major blow.

The Braves still have 72.1 percent odds to make it to the postseason per FanGraphs, but with their second-best hitter out for a lengthy period of time, it feels as if it's far from certain that Atlanta makes the cut.

Over the last month and a bit of the regular season, not only does the team have a lot to prove, but these three players do too. If they fail to come up big, their roles down the stretch and/or in 2025 could drastically change.

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3) Luke Jackson has to pitch well to hold onto his roster spot

The Jorge Soler trade has aged wonderfully so far for the Braves, but there was a second piece to that deal. The Braves and Giants swapped relievers, with Tyler Matzek going to San Francisco and Luke Jackson returning to Atlanta.

While it's always good to bring former World Series champions back to the city where they won it, the Jackson acquisition was a bit of a curious one if the Giants didn't make the Braves take on his contract. The right-hander had a 5.40 ERA in 36 appearances for San Francisco this season, and his struggles have carried over to Atlanta in the short time he's been back.

Jackson has allowed six runs on 11 hits with four walks in just 7.2 innings of work. He has a 7.04 ERA and a 1.957 WHIP in six appearances with Atlanta. Small sample size, sure, but Jackson has looked like a shell of his former solid self.

He has a roster spot as of now mainly because he's out of options, but the Braves have optionable relievers like Daysbel Hernandez and Jimmy Herget who might deserve the spot more. A.J. Minter's injury bought Jackson some time, but he's going to have to pitch better to hold onto his spot for this season, let alone be part of Atlanta's future plans.

2) Adam Duvall might not survive the season in a Braves uniform

When the Braves signed Adam Duvall to a cheap one-year deal, it felt as if they had made one of the best value signings of the offseason. Duvall was coming off a monster year with the Boston Red Sox, and had a history of performing extremely well in Atlanta. Unfortunately, Duvall hasn't been the player that Braves fans were accustomed to prior to this season.

The 35-year-old is slashing .177/.239/.314 with 10 home runs and 29 RBI in 94 games played. He was initially brought in to platoon with Jarred Kelenic and did very well in that role, but was thrust into an everyday role when Ronald Acuña Jr. and Michael Harris II went down and didn't perform well at all as a full-time player.

To make matters worse, things have only been trending in the wrong direction for Duvall. He is hitless in his last 13 at-bats and has one hit in his last 29 at-bats with 17 strikeouts. He hasn't hit a home run in nearly a month. He hasn't even started a game since August 12, eight days ago, and two days before Michael Harris II made his return. Ramon Laureano has jumped him on the depth chart, and for good reason.

Duvall still has a .818 OPS against southpaws this season, which is very solid, but even that number has taken a dip recently. With Harris healthy and Laureano producing, Duvall is barely going to play. With that in mind, there's a very realistic chance that he doesn't even finish out the season in a Braves uniform barring a surge in the rare times he does play.

1) Orlando Arcia has to hit to remain a starter past the 2024 season

Part of what made the Braves lineup so special in 2023 was the fact that everyone from top to bottom was capable of doing damage. Orlando Arcia hit eighth or ninth most often last season, but still hit 17 home runs and drove in 65 runs while putting up a .741 OPS.

This season, though, has been a disaster for Arcia, who is slashing .224/.271/.348 with 11 home runs and 34 RBI. It appeared as if he was finally turning things around in July and the first couple of days of August, but he is hitting just .196 with a .482 OPS in his last 15 games.

His defense has been superb, and the Braves would've been fine with his lackluster bat last season when everyone else was having great years, but Arcia has been a black hole in this lineup far too often this season.

Finding a starting shortstop without overpaying won't be easy, but if anyone can do it, it's Alex Anthopoulos. Heck, he did it with Arcia last season. Barring a late-season surge, it's hard to make the argument that Arcia should be handed the starting job at shortstop in 2025 if he can't be better than a .619 OPS hitter.