Braves can't pitch but at least they can't hit either

Going into the 2024 MLB season, the Atlanta Braves were the favorites to win the World Series. After a heavy dose of injuries and big-name players underperforming, they may be in an uphill battle just to see the calendar flip to October.

At the trade deadline, GM Alex Anthopoulos decided to make one major move by returning Jorge Soler to Atlanta. For about three games it looked like the Braves may have been back on track. However, Tuesday night provided Braves fans with an unfortunate familiar scene in a loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.

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Braves struggle from every aspect

Two of the many injuries that Atlanta has had to deal with this season involved all-star starting pitchers Max Fried and Reynaldo Lopez. While Fried just made a return from the IL, Lopez was recently placed on the IL himself, leaving a rotation spot to fill.

Bryce Elder who has been between the big leagues and minors for what feels like forever now took the ball in Reynaldo Lopez's spot. Elder had a phenomenal outing against the Brewers in his last start but Tuesday night was a little bit different.

In front of his home crowd at Truist Park, Elder couldn't get out of the 4th inning. He surrendered 7 earned runs on 8 hits through just 3.2 innings of work. Jesse Chavez allowed 2 earned runs himself in relief and Aaron Bummer was tagged for an earned run, making it an even 10 earned runs allowed by the Braves on Tuesday.

In addition to struggling on the mound, the Braves have gone ice cold at the plate (again). Placing Jorge Soler at the top of the lineup card was meant to ignite the offense but it has yet to happen. In fact, the Braves have not scored a run in their last 19 innings of baseball.

With the Phillies going through a rough patch and the Braves in the midst of a relatively easy portion of their schedule, the last couple of weeks would have been an ideal time for Atlanta to make up some ground in the NL East.

While the Braves have cut some games off of that gap over the last couple of months, they still sit 6.5 games out of the division lead entering Wednesday. Atlanta now has the last Wild Card spot if the season were to end today but the New York Mets are right on their heels. It is now or never for the Braves.