The Braves Don't Need a Miracle. They Need a Plan for 2026

It's time to turn the page towards contending next season

Stick a fork in them - the 2025 Braves are done.

After this weekend’s sweep at the hands of the last-place Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta’s now just 39-50 and has a better record than just five teams - the Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals, Athletics, Chicago White Sox, and Colorado Rockies.

It’s officially time for the organization to admit that the postseason’s not going to happen this season and shift focus to 2026. Here’s what they can do.

Playing time needs to change

There are three major changes that need to happen in the lineup - let’s take them in order.

1. Designated hitter

2. Catcher

3. Second base

Designated hitter

Atlanta needs to let Marcell Ozuna proceed with his necessary hip surgery, which will sideline him for the remainder of the season but leave him better equipped to work out for teams this winter. As a pending free agent who has both been below-average at the plate for two months (a .224 average and .694 OPS since returning to the lineup after his hip injury) and a vested veteran that can block any trade, it’s increasingly unlikely the Braves were going to get any significant asset for the designated hitter’s services at the deadline.

But clearing the DH spot also allows Atlanta to rotate in some of their veterans to rest their legs - I’m thinking about both Ronald Acuña Jr. and Jurickson Profar here. Being able to give them a ‘half-day’ off without removing them from the lineup completely feels like the best way to not run either player into the ground over the long summer on a non-contending team.

It also gives you the flexibility to add another bat to the lineup…

Catcher

Clearing the DH spot also allows Drake Baldwin’s bat to be in the lineup on a near-daily basis. With the youngster hitting .274/.352/.474, he’s already one of the team’s best hitters when he’s penciled in to the order.

In most prominent sportsbooks, Baldwin’s locked into a close battle with Milwaukee Brewers flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski for NL Rookie of the Year. As we know from recent campaigns, both in Atlanta (2022) and outside (2023), it takes an absurdly dominant year for a starting pitcher (2024) to unseat a position player for the ROTY award.

Misiorowski, who has made just four starts and is 3-1 with a 3.20 ERA, needs to have a Paul Skenes-2024-type domination (23 starts, 11-3 w/ 1.96 ERA) to unseat Baldwin, who is second among all qualified rookies in OPS at .826 and 3rd in homers, with 10.

Suppose Baldwin can get near everyday run between catching a few times a week and being the designated hitter the rest. In that case, he should be able to cruise to the Rookie of the Year award, netting Atlanta a Prospect Promotion Incentive pick placed after the first round of the 2026 MLB Draft.

Second base

Infielder Nacho Alvarez Jr., per sources I’ve spoken with, is expected to return from his oblique injury this week for the Stripers.¹

After he gets a week or so to lock in his timing at the plate, he should be in Atlanta and getting some run at second base in place of Ozzie Albies after the All-Star Break.

This is an incredibly tough decision and a conversation won’t go over well with the club’s longest-tenured player, but here’s the facts: Ozzie Albies' .606 OPS ranks 6th-worst among all qualified MLB hitters, and at least most of those others have the advantage of being fantastic defenders - there’s three centerfielders on this list (including Michael Harris II, at a league-worst .552 OPS), a shortstop, and two third basemen ahead of Ozzie.

Albies, meanwhile, is barely average via Statcast at 0 Fielding Run Value despite being the only one on the list that plays a lesser defensive position.

He’s also a pending free agent, with the Braves needing to decide on picking up his $7M club option for 2026 or paying a $4M buyout to let him walk in free agency.

Atlanta needs to know now by October whether Alvarez is a viable everyday second baseman or whether they'll need to shop this winter. (They probably should shop regardless, just make sure that the signing is someone who can fill in somewhere else.)

This is also why I want Harris to be in the lineup every day, although I admittedly don’t care if it’s Atlanta or Gwinnett. He has a lot of team control, five seasons plus two more club option years, and while the contract is not onerous enough if you need to eventually make him a 4th outfielder ($9M AAV), he needs to figure it out for the health of the team. There just aren’t many quality centerfield prospects remotely close to the majors that are in his same stratosphere as a defender.

Deals need to be made

Along with some lineup changes, the Braves need to move a few players. Really, the only acceptable options here are going to be some relievers, led by the expiring contract of now-demoted closer Raisel Iglesias and the club option year of curveballer Pierce Johnson.

Trading lefty groundball specialist Aaron Bummer, who has one more guaranteed year of control remaining but at a $6M increase in salary over this year’s $3.5M, could be an option to move, as well.

Sadly, for reasons I detailed above, neither Ozuna nor Ozzie are likely to fetch much of an asset, if any, at the trade deadline.

But the team can acquire either lesser arms that they think they can ‘unlock’ through development changes or prospects for relievers that are a luxury for a non-contending team and, in Iglesias’ case, won’t be returning for 2026.

To sum up the approach here: Trade relievers, not core bats. Get longer-term value, not short-term bullpen filler.

The one thing I’m going to insist about the return, however, is I don’t want the team to get major league guys who need to be in the bullpen in the back half of the 2025 season. I’ve got a better idea.

Let’s aggressively promote some prospects

With several pitchers having September returns from the injured list, let’s embrace MLB’s marketing campaign from 2019 and ‘Let The Kids Play”.

Rather than trying to get Spencer Schwellenbach or Chris Sale or Reynaldo López back to make two or three meaningless starts for a 90-loss team in September, let’s promote some pitching prospects from Columbus and Gwinnett to get their feet wet.

Remember, we need information.

Is Nathan Wiles ready to make a major league start? Is Davis Daniel ready to return to the majors? Have the new Hurston Waldrep mechanics settled in enough for him to get through a major league start? Is Jackson Stephens a starter now?

But we can even go down to the Clingstones and answer some of those questions.

Can Blake Burkhalter’s fastball/cutter/gyro slider combo hang at the major league level? I think it can, but let’s find out for sure.

Lucas Braun’s more of a kitchen sink guy than a stuff monster, but can he sequence enough to get Marlins or Nationals hitters out instead of Biscuits or Barons? Let’s give him the chance.

Ian Meija’s numbers are great in Double-A - 8-1 with a 1.96 ERA - but can his 93mph fastball survive in Atlanta instead of Columbus?

I propose we find out in August and September.

Same goes for the relievers. Lefty Hayden Harris, who has done nothing but go 5-0 with a 0.57 ERA between Columbus and Gwinnett, striking out 46 in just 31.1 innings, deserves a chance to make his major league debut. The first pitch that Jhancarlos Lara throws in Atlanta would likely be the team’s fastest pitch since Mauricio Cabera supposedly² hit 104.2 against the Phillies in 2016.

Rolddy Muñoz and Domingo Gonzalez are flamethrowing relievers who were added to the 40-man last winter - are they ready, as well?

I propose we find out.

After all, what’s the worst that could happen? The offense could fail to score with runners in scoring position if Alvarez is up there to bat? Good news - they went just 3-for-23 this weekend, so it’s not like he could bring them down THAT much. A starter might get blown up and leave the bullpen in a bad place? Good news - that’s already happened a ton this year and so they’re used to it by now.

So what’s the downside?

The offense has already bottomed out with runners in scoring position. The rotation’s already been patched with duct tape and crossed fingers. At this point, you’re not risking anything except maybe a little service time - and in return, you get valuable information that can actually help fix this team.

Let the kids pitch. Let Nacho Alvarez play. Let Baldwin swing every day.

The 2025 season may be a lost cause. But if Atlanta makes the right moves now, the 2026 season doesn’t have to be.

1. He has yet to get final clearance from the organization’s doctors, so his return could be delayed if they don’t sign off.

2. The broadcast has it at 103 and it’s the only pitch of the season for him that even broke 103.5, per Statcast so maybe a misread.