The Braves have stunningly lost four straight games and five of their last six, but which players are most to blame for the recent decline in Atlanta?
Just based on the standings, the Atlanta Braves aren't necessarily in trouble. They still hold the best record in MLB at 61-33 and are miles ahead of their NL East rivals with a 9.5-game lead in the division.
Yet, things haven't been going smoothly for the Braves of late. With a 5-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night, Atlanta has now dropped four straight games and five of their last six dating back to just before All-Star weekend. Moreover, that puts them at a paltry 4-6 over their last 10 games.
Again, this hasn't bit the Braves yet with their place in the standings and the playoff race — but if it continues, that might no longer be the case. So it's time to start pointing fingers at which Braves deserve a ton of the blame for this recent losing skid.
These aren't the only players to blame — looking at you, Marcell Ozuna — but based on expectations and the results, these three players deserve the lion's share of the blame for the recent struggles.
Braves: 3 players most to blame for untimely losing skid
3. Sean Murphy, C
When you look at the numbers on the whole for Sean Murphy this season, it's obviously no wonder why the Braves' biggest offseason acquisition in another big-name trade with Oakland earned his first All-Star nod this season.
Murphy is hitting .289 on the season with the sixth-best OPS in baseball (.950) as he's mashed 17 home runs and 18 doubles on the year with 57 RBI to his credit in just 71 games. Throw in the fact that he remains one of the best defensive catchers in the league, and he's obviously been worth everything for Atlanta on the year.
But it's impossible to ignore the slump that he's experiencing right now.
Coming out of the break, Murphy has played in four of the five games for the Braves. In 19 plate appearances, he's reached base just three times, recording one hit and two walks. Granted, that one hit was a two-RBI double, but the fact that his slash line since the All-Star Game reads .059/.158/.118 while striking out five times in 19 plate appearances tells you everything you need to know about how much he's pressing right now.
With the pitching crashing down to earth of late (which we're going to touch on shortly), the offense has been more necessary than ever. As part of the heart of the order, though, Murphy just hasn't been delivering results in the Braves lineup. To kick this skid to the curb, the All_Star catcher needs to get his groove back at the plate.
2. Raisel Iglesias, RP
There's a reason that the bullpen has been highlighted all over the place as the one area that the Braves need to address at the upcoming MLB Trade Deadline. Sure, the group as a whole for this season has performed well overall. Injuries are starting to mount, however, with A.J. Minter and Nick Anderson now joining the likes of Dylan Lee and Jesse Chavez on the IL.
Amid these injuries, Brian Snitker would ideally be able to rely heavily on one of his veteran stalwarts at the back end of the bullpen, Raisel Iglesias. But the hot-and-cold play on the mound from the former Angel has continued when the club can ill afford that to be the case.
The most egregious example game in the Tuesday night barn-burner against the Diamondbacks. The 33-year-old righty entered the contest in the top of the ninth with the game knotted at a ridiculous 13-13. Atlanta's offense had undoubtedly done its part to that point, but they simply needed some help from the pitching staff and bullpen to secure the win.
Instead, Iglesias gave it away, giving up a single, putting another aboard on an error, and then giving up a 2-RBI double and an RBI single to put the Braves in a three-run hole going into the final half-inning of the game. He ultimately recorded just one out, which came after the aforementioned single.
While he did pitch a scoreless frame on July 16 against the White Sox in the 8-1 loss, the fact of the matter is that Iglesias was shelled in the only high-leverage situation that he's seen on this side of the All-Star break. With the injuries to the bullpen right now, this type of poor performance is something tha the Braves simply can't take on the chin.
1. Bryce Elder, SP
Bryce Elder was deservingly awarded with an All-Star Game selection this year as the 24-year-old was masterful for the Braves in the first half of the season. More importantly, he delivered that performance when Atlanta needed it in the wake of injuries to Max Fried and Kyle Wright as Brian Snitker scrambled for answers in the rotation. It was Elder who stepped up.
Unfortunately, there are now concerns that the young righty might be regressing and it's hitting the Braves like a ton of bricks right now.
The starting pitcher in two of the losses over the club's last five games, Elder has gotten absolutely shelled by the Tampa Bay Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks, lasting just 6.0 total innings over his last two starts and giving up 12 earned runs — "good" for an 18.00 ERA over this span — and 14 total runs over that spans with opposing hitters posting a .419 OBP against him as well.
In many cases, the Braves offense has been potent enough at virtually every turn to mask any bad outings from starters, especially if they aren't too bad. But the pressure that Elder has put on the high-octane bats in Atlanta has been untenable over the last two starts, allowing seven runs on the board in both outings before the end of the fourth inning. That's just not good enough.
One can only hope that Elder gets back to his early-season form and that his is just a blip on the radar. What's clear is that the Braves need for that to be the case, or else their trade deadline plans might certainly include finding another addition to the starting rotation.
