From 1991 to 2005, the Braves won 14 division titles in 15 seasons, missing only during the strike year of 1994. From 2018 to 2024, the Braves won six division titles in seven seasons, missing only last year, when they still made the playoffs. Along the way, they won a World Series in 2021, had back-to-back 100-win seasons in 2022 and ’23, and featured one of the most powerful lineups of all time in 2023, when they became the first team to slug .500.
Though the past three postseasons ended in early defeat, the Braves had constructed a team that was the envy of front offices around the league: Not only had they developed young talent, but they had signed Ronald Acuna Jr., Spencer Strider, Austin Riley, Michael Harris II, Matt Olson, Ozzie Albies, Sean Murphy and Reynaldo Lopez to long-term contracts, with several of those considered especially team-friendly deals. With Acuna and Strider returning from injuries, the Braves were the division favorite entering the season.
Instead, it has been a disaster. The Braves went 0-6 on a season-opening road trip against the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers, scoring just 14 runs in the six games. They clawed back over .500 once, at 24-23 on May 18, but a seven-game losing streak to begin June led to an awful two months. Though they’ve played better in August, it’s much too late, as the Braves appear headed to their first losing season since 2017.
What went wrong?
And can the Braves recover?
While going from 104 wins to a losing record in two years feels unusual, it’s hardly unprecedented. Since 1961, 76 teams have won 100 games. Eighteen of those teams had a losing season within two years. Most recently, the 2022 New York Mets won 101 games and had a losing record the following season (although they bounced back to make the playoffs in 2024). But that Mets teams was a patched-together roster of older players and free agents. The Braves appeared to have the foundation to reel off more division titles.
Let’s dig into what has happened, and what’s next.
Pitching injuries — and departing free agents
Led by Cy Young winner Chris Sale, the 2024 Braves had an excellent rotation: third in the majors in ERA, third in innings pitched. They hoped to add Strider to that mix early this season and get a full campaign from Spencer Schwellenbach, who had an outstanding rookie year in 2024 over 21 starts. They also had Grant Holmes, who had appeared as a starter and reliever in 2024 and had looked good in his abbreviated stints in the rotation. Add in 2024 All-Star Reynaldo Lopez, coming off a 1.99 ERA, and they appeared set — despite losing Max Fried and Charlie Morton in free agency.
Ahh, but the departures of Fried and Morton meant they still had to replace 59 starts and nearly 340 innings in the rotation, and that’s not easy. Factor in that Lopez had made two separate trips to the injured list late in 2024 because of a forearm strain and shoulder issue, that Sale was coming off his healthiest season since 2017, that Strider was coming off a serious injury and that Schwellenbach and Holmes had never pitched a full season in the majors, and it’s easy to see in retrospect that there was plenty of injury risk. The Braves believed they had enough depth with 2023 All-Star Bryce Elder and AJ Smith-Shawver.
All five projected starters got hurt at some point. Lopez lasted one start before undergoing shoulder surgery. Strider hasn’t been the same explosive pitcher from 2022 and 2023. Smith-Shawver underwent Tommy John surgery after nine starts and Elder, forced to stay in the rotation, has a 6.12 ERA. As the injuries piled up after the All-Star break, the Braves had to scrounge up guys such as Carlos Carrasco, Cal Quantrill and Erick Fedde to fill out a rotation. The Braves are 23rd in the majors in rotation ERA.
But even when Sale, Schwellenbach, Holmes and Strider were in the rotation at the end of June, the Braves were just 38-45 (although ranked 13th in ERA at the time). Other teams have battled through rotation injuries and survived, as the Mets have had five starters with lengthy IL stints this season, while the Dodgers have also played through a slew of rotation injuries.
What about 2026? The Braves will bring back all these starters for 2026, with the hopes that everyone will be healthy for Opening Day, other than Smith-Shawver. Add in Hurston Waldrep, the 2023 first-round pick who has been excellent since joining the rotation in August, and the Braves will enter next season with a potentially stellar rotation. Given the uncertainty with Schwellenbach (elbow fracture) and Holmes (rehabbing his UCL rather than undergoing Tommy John surgery), it will probably make sense to sign a veteran starter in free agency.
Signed to a three-year, $42 million contract in the offseason to plug a hole in the outfield, Profar received an 80-game suspension just four games into the season. With Acuna not returning until late May, suddenly the Braves had their position player depth tested. Just like 2024, this proved to be a major problem. Bryan De La Cruz didn’t hit while filling in for Profar and got waived May 1. Jarred Kelenic was even worse and got sent down after hitting .167 in 24 games. In desperation, they signed Alex Verdugo; he posted an abysmal .585 OPS in 56 games before getting released.
It didn’t help that Harris was one of the worst hitters in the majors in the first half. Acuna returned May 23 and has been outstanding, but even with his production, Braves outfielders rank just 17th in the majors in OPS.
The Braves’ lack of depth showed in other areas. Orlando Arcia, coming off a terrible 2024, was the Opening Day shortstop, but once again, he struggled at the plate, lost his starting job to Nick Allen, and was released in late May. Allen has been a plus defender, but among players with at least 300 plate appearances, he has been the worst hitter in the majors.
What about 2026? The starting outfield will be set with Acuna, Harris and Profar, but the Braves will need a quality fourth outfielder, as Kelenic no longer looks like an answer (he has been terrible in Triple-A). Allen’s defense is steady, but the Braves will undoubtedly be looking for an offensive upgrade in the offseason. The free agent options are thin at shortstop other than Bo Bichette (who has terrible defensive metrics, plus the Braves rarely go after the top free agents), so any upgrade might come via trade. The Braves might live with Allen’s defense, except …
Offensive declines across the board
We mentioned Harris. Though he has somewhat salvaged his season with a hot streak since late July, he’s one of several Braves who haven’t matched what they did in that historic 2023. Note:
The 2023 Braves scored 947 runs — the most in the majors since the 2007 New York Yankees and the most by a non-Colorado Rockies National League team since the 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers. The 2025 Braves are on pace for 714 runs, and currently rank tied for 15th in runs scored.
What about 2026? The Braves will have to do some serious introspection here. After scoring 704 runs in 2024, it seems clear this is the level of the offense: mediocre. They can count on full seasons from Acuna and Profar, which should help. The OBP issues for Harris and Albies, two players who are supposed to be key components in the lineup, are a major problem. Olson is a good hitter, but 2023 was a career season. Riley has battled injuries two seasons in a row. Ozuna is a free agent and will need to be replaced; adding a third catcher and letting Drake Baldwin assume the majority of the DH at-bats is one possibility. Unless they look to trade Albies (he’s making just $7 million each of the next two seasons) or find a shortstop, this group will look the same.
Problems in the bullpen
With all the injuries to the rotation, it didn’t help that the bullpen imploded, at least early. Closer Raisel Iglesias had four blown saves and five losses by early June, a key factor in the Braves digging themselves that early hole. Though he settled down, the pen hasn’t been as strong as the past two seasons, especially last year:
2023
ERA: 3.81 (12th) Win probability added: +3.05 (14th)
2024
ERA: 3.32 (third) Win probability added: +5.85 (third)
2025
ERA: 4.19 (20th) Win probability added: +2.52 (16th)
What about 2026? Iglesias is a free agent, so the Braves will look for a new closer. Joe Jimenez is a possibility after missing all of 2025 after knee surgery, and Pierce Johnson will probably be back with a $7 million team option. Other free agents will include Devin Williams, Ryan Helsley and possibly Robert Suarez, who is likely to opt out of a player option.
Verdict: The Braves can bounce back in 2026
The main reason to be optimistic about 2026 is that the Braves still have their core players in their prime years: Olson will be 32 and Profar 33, but Acuna is just 28, Riley and Albies will turn 29 and Harris will be 25. Baldwin looks like an exciting young hitter, and Waldrep could be an impact starter. A healthy Sale and a better Strider would go a long way to fixing the rotation.
Despite all the issues and rotation filler, the Braves’ run differential isn’t terrible at minus-19. And sometimes, good organizations have bad seasons. The Cincinnati Reds won 102 games in 1970 and 95-plus from 1972 through 1976 but tossed in a 79-83 season in 1971. The St. Louis Cardinals had a winning record every year from 2000 to 2022, except for a 78-84 record in 2007. The Houston Astros have won the AL West every season since 2017, except for a sub-.500 year in 2020 (granted, that was the shortened COVID season).
On the other hand, sometimes that first losing season indicates the good times are over: See the mid-1960s Yankees, late 1980s Mets or 2013 Philadelphia Phillies. Usually, however, those are either old teams or mismanaged ones or some combination of both. The Braves are neither. They’ll need better luck with their pitching health, but the foundation is here to return to the playoff chase next season.
Buehler was assigned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley by Philadelphia. The Phillies plan to use Buehler, who will be eligible to pitch in the postseason, in their starting rotation, a source told ESPN’s Buster Olney.
Buehler, who got the final out in the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ World Series victory last season and was expected to be a key member of the Boston rotation this year, was released on Friday after the Red Sox concluded he couldn’t help their playoff push from the bullpen.
Buehler, 31, has struggled since signing a $21.05 million contract with Boston, going 7-7 with a 5.45 ERA. He made 22 starts before he was demoted to the bullpen last week; in his only relief appearance since earning a save in Game 5 of the Series, he allowed two runs in 2⅓ innings in a loss to the New York Yankees.
A two-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion, Buehler is 54-29 in 144 starts over eight major league seasons. He struggled last year coming off a second Tommy John surgery but pitched a perfect ninth in the Series clincher two days after pitching five shutout innings as the starter in Game 3.
CHICAGO — When Aaron Judge returned to the dugout after his first-inning homer, New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone yelled “Yogi!” in the direction of his star slugger.
Yogi indeed.
Judge moved into a tie with Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra for fifth in franchise history when hitting his 358th career homer during Sunday’s 3-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox.
“Not getting [the win] kind of stings,” Judge said, “but you know, get a chance to tie one of the greatest if not the greatest Yankee in homers is, it’s pretty special. The way Yogi played the game, what he meant to these pinstripes, you knew how much it meant being a New York Yankee to him. I feel the same way.
“I’m honored to wear this jersey, so it’s pretty cool to be on that list with him.”
Judge drove an 0-2 cutter from Martin Perez deep to center for a one-out solo shot. Judge’s 43rd homer of the season had a 112.6 mph exit velocity and traveled 426 feet.
He made a bid for another homer in the third, but his drive went off the wall in center for a double. He also singled in the fifth and popped out for the final out of the seventh.
Batting with a runner aboard and one out in the ninth, he flied to center.
“Just missed the last one,” Boone said. “I thought he made the right move on the pitch. Looked like he got a hanger there that I thought he put a great swing on. He got under it a little bit and hit it straight up in the air. So those things happen.”
Judge, 33, also connected for a solo homer in New York’s 11-inning victory at Chicago on Saturday night. The two-time American League MVP and seven-time All-Star batted .241 (20-for-83) with 6 homers, 12 RBIs and a .417 on-base percentage in 24 games in August.
Next up for Judge and the Yankees is four consecutive series against playoff contenders, beginning with the opener of a three-game set at Houston on Tuesday night.
“That’s what we want,” said Judge, who signed a $360 million, nine-year contract with New York in December 2022. “It’s coming down to the wire. We want to play the best teams and especially getting down the stretch here into the postseason, this is what it’s all about.”
Hall of Famers Babe Ruth (659 homers), Mickey Mantle (536), Lou Gehrig (493) and Joe DiMaggio (361) are on top of the Yankees’ career home runs list. Judge’s drive produced the first change in the franchise’s top five since Mantle hit his 203rd career homer Aug. 7, 1957, snapping a tie with Bill Dickey.
Judge was selected by New York in the first round of the 2013 amateur draft and made his debut with the Yankees in 2016. Berra was 90 when he died in 2015.
“Didn’t get to see him too much. He was definitely around over at big league camp,” Judge said. “But he was a special individual. A lot of the veteran guys talk highly of him. It was probably some of their favorite memories, you know, coming to spring training was having a chance to talk with him during camp, just hear some of his stories.”
Judge was activated from the 10-day injured list Aug. 5 after being sidelined by a flexor strain in his right elbow. He has been serving as the team’s designated hitter, but he could return to the outfield at some point this season.
While Raleigh’s season hasn’t exactly come out of nowhere — he reached 30 home runs the previous two years — the fact that we’re not even in September yet certainly makes his power exploits even more impressive.
In honor of his record-breaking season, let’s dig into some of the numbers around his 2025 campaign. And with Raleigh now at 50 home runs, we’ll also break down where his season ranks among the most surprising 50-homer seasons in MLB history.
So, is this the greatest power-hitting season ever from a catcher?
If you want to get technical about it, this is open for discussion. Like Perez with the Kansas City Royals in 2021, Raleigh has benefited from some DH time, with nine of his home runs coming as a DH. Perez’s figures were even more extreme, with 15 of his 48 home runs coming as a DH.
The record for home runs while only playing catcher belongs to Javy Lopez, who hit 42 for the Atlanta Braves in 2003 in just 117 games (he hit one more as a pinch-hitter). That was an impressive season for Lopez, who hit .328/.378/.687 with a 1.065 OPS. He fell seven plate appearances short of the 502 needed for official qualification, otherwise his OPS would rank as the second-highest ever for a catcher (behind Mike Piazza’s 1.070 in 1997) and his .687 slugging as the highest ever (Piazza slugged .638 in ’97). (And we would be remiss not to mention Josh Gibson’s hitting heroics in the Negro Leagues, as he topped both those figures multiple times.)
Raleigh leads the majors in home runs, which would put him alongside Johnny Bench as the only catcher to lead the majors if he maintains his lead over Kyle Schwarber and Shohei Ohtani. Bench, who topped the majors with 45 home runs in 1970 and 40 in 1972, played 158 games in 1970 and 147 in 1972, occasionally playing other positions when he wasn’t catching in lieu of the option to DH.
Could any other catcher in history have hit this many?
Lopez would have been the obvious candidate. Raleigh will soar past 600 plate appearances; Lopez’s home run rate prorated to 625 plate appearances gets him to 54 home runs. Piazza hit 40 home runs in 1997, but did bat 633 times while playing in 152 games, so you can’t really fudge more than a few extra home runs, even if he had more DH opportunities. Roy Campanella hit 41 for Brooklyn in 1953, batting 590 times while playing 144 games (although starting just 130). Give him the 162-game schedule and some DH starts and maybe he gets close to 50. Todd Hundley is the only other catcher with a 40-homer season, hitting 41 for the 1996 New York Mets in 624 plate appearances.
While Raleigh has slowed down since the All-Star break, especially in the batting average department, his season is also particularly impressive because he’s doing this in a very pitcher-friendly home park. He’s hitting .223/.317/.572 with 24 home runs at home and .269/.385/.614 with 25 home runs on the road. His home run rate is similar, but no doubt he has lost a few home runs to the marine layer in Seattle. To hit 50 home runs in a tough home run park as a catcher playing almost every game is a stunning accomplishment.
Are there any other records Raleigh can break?
Glad you asked. It feels like the record for home runs by a switch-hitter isn’t getting enough publicity. Mickey Mantle — now that’s a big name — holds the mark with 54 in 1961. Indeed, he is the only other switch-hitter with a 50-homer season, also hitting 52 in 1956. Raleigh is now third on the all-time list, having soared past Lance Berkman and Chipper Jones, who had 45 in their best seasons. He’s projected to surpass that 54 mark, so this could be the next record to fall.
Then there’s the Mariners team record: Ken Griffey Jr. had back-to-back 56-homer seasons in 1997 and ’98. With 31 games left on the Mariners’ schedule, Raleigh has certainly put that total in play as well.
What were the most surprising 50-homer seasons?
Once he hits No. 50, Raleigh will have the 51st season in MLB history with 50 home runs — by 33 different players.
Which of those were most surprising? Obviously, there were a lot of goofy home run totals from the steroid eras, and a couple of those seasons crack our top seven list:
Gonzalez topped 30 home runs just one other time in his career (31 in 2000) but hit .325/.429/.688 with 57 home runs and 142 RBIs in the D-backs’ World Series-winning season. The offensive numbers were so extreme in the NL in 2001, however, that Gonzalez finished just third in home runs (behind Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa) and third in the MVP voting.
Maris’ historic season obviously can’t be considered a complete fluke considering he hit 39 home runs and won the AL MVP Award in 1960, but breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record of 60 set in 1927 is one of the great achievements in MLB history. That was the year that MLB expanded, and Maris’ teammate Mickey Mantle also hit 54 home runs, while three other American Leaguers hit at least 45.
Foster had hit 29 home runs in 1976 and would follow up his 1977 MVP season with 40 home runs in 1978, but he hit 30 home runs just one other time (30 in 1979). His ’77 season also stands out because it was the only 50-homer season between Willie Mays in 1965 and Cecil Fielder in 1990. Foster did benefit from a new, livelier ball, after MLB switched its manufacturer from Spalding to Rawlings. The NL batting average increased from .255 to .262 in 1977 and home runs per game increased 47%, from .057 to 0.84.
These seasons don’t look so surprising in retrospect, but both were shocking at the time since they occurred in their rookie seasons, with Judge setting a record in 2017 and then Alonso breaking it just two years later. Both were regarded as good prospects — but not great ones. Judge was No. 44 on ESPN’s preseason Top 100 list in 2017 while Alonso was No. 90 in 2019. Judge had hit just 19 home runs in the minors in 2016 (in 93 games), although his raw power was obvious; Alonso had hit 36 in the minors, so at least looked like your more prototypical hitting prospect.
Alonso’s year, in particular, is fascinating because he wasn’t even guaranteed a roster spot entering the season — the Mets had publicly mentioned his defense as a reason he hadn’t been called up in 2018. They also had a crowded field contending for first base in spring training: former top prospect Dominic Smith, Todd Frazier and J.D. Davis (both couldn’t play third base), as well as Jed Lowrie, who the Mets had signed as a free agent but couldn’t play at second base because they had traded for Robinson Cano. Lowrie hurt his left knee in spring training and Frazier was also injured at the start of the season while Alonso had a strong spring, earning the starting job over Smith.
Bautista was a 29-year-old journeyman coming off a 13-homer season, so he stunned everyone with this 54-homer season. He had overhauled his swing and started not only hitting the ball in the air more but pulling it much more often (his pull rate improved from 34% to 49%). He would prove it wasn’t a fluke, hitting 43 home runs in 2011 and 40 in 2015.
Anderson’s season still stands out as one of the fluke home run seasons of all time — his second-highest total was 24 home runs in 1999. Considering he was 32 years old at the time and coming off a 16-homer season, conspiracy theorists attribute his power spike to performance-enhancing drugs, which Anderson has consistently denied he used. Like Bautista, he pulled the ball more than ever that year while also hitting more fly balls. He played through a broken rib the following season and then he played through neck and back issues in 1998, both of which might have affected his power output. But that 50-homer season will live forever.
So where does Raleigh rank?
Probably along the lines of Gonzalez and Foster — a good power hitter having a career season, except Raleigh gets a little extra surprise credit for doing it as a catcher. Of course, we don’t know what he’ll do in the future, although you do wonder if he can keep playing this many games season after season. He has missed just three games all season, including just one since the All-Star break, but with the Mariners battling for both the division title and a wild-card spot, it’s going to be exceedingly difficult for manager Dan Wilson to rest Raleigh. The strikeouts have really piled up in August, including one five-strikeout game and three three-strikeout games, so it feels like he could use a day off or two. For now, the Mariners will hope he can keep grinding and keep hitting home runs.