Dominic Smith’s early-season surge helped fuel the Braves’ rise, but that cushion has disappeared fast. Since June 1, Smith has slumped to a .176/.244/.250 line with a 36 wRC+, and the Braves’ own downturn has tracked right alongside it.
That’s why Sunday’s empty result with the game hanging in the balance set off a fresh round of noise around his role. Smith was never supposed to be the Braves’ primary designated hitter coming into the year, but after this latest skid, the position looks like a spot Alex Anthopoulos has to address before the trade deadline.
The drop-off has been sharp. Smith carried a surprising .861 OPS through May 21, then hit just .191 with a .499 OPS after that point. The batted-ball data has backed up the slump too, with a 28.9% hard-hit rate and an 85.3 mph average exit velocity over his last 106 plate appearances.
Anthopoulos does have some moving parts coming back soon, with Ronald Acuna Jr. and Sean Murphy nearing returns. Once the roster gets healthier, the Smith-at-DH issue becomes less central. But that doesn’t make it something the Braves can simply ignore.
The good news is that bats in the outfield and DH mold are usually available in July. The tougher part is deciding how aggressive Atlanta wants to be. A dream pursuit of Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez would certainly clear the bar, but that feels more like fantasy than a realistic target.
A more likely path is the one Anthopoulos has taken before: multiple smaller swings at the same problem. The Braves’ 2021 outfield overhaul is the obvious template, and it would not be a shock to see Atlanta try more than once to patch the DH spot this deadline.
Whether that means Josh Bell, Joc Pederson, Mickey Moniak, or someone else entirely, the Braves have a familiar Anthopoulos lane to work with. He has a habit of landing a name that wasn’t on many radars, and he still has other roster issues to sort through as well. Even so, Smith’s collapse has made one thing plain: Atlanta needs a better answer at DH.
In Other News...
Braves Quietly Got Back A Bullpen Arm They May Desperately Need
For most of the season, Atlantas bullpen has looked like one of the clubs quiet advantages, but the last stretch has brought a little more unease. Raisel Iglesias has blown a save, Dylan Lee has had shaky outings and Didier Fuentes is nearing the break, which has made the relief picture feel less settled than it did a few weeks ago.
Into that mix comes Danny Young, the left-hander the Braves have quietly gotten back after his injury layoff. His early work this season has been encouraging enough to give Atlanta another option for mid-to-high-leverage spots against left-handed hitters, and perhaps a way to ease the load on some of the other arms that have been asked to carry more lately. The bigger question is how quickly the Braves lean into that role, and whether Young can turn a useful return into something more than just a temporary fix. [Read more 🡒]
Walt Weiss Decisions Just Cost The Braves A Game They Had Won
The Braves had enough offense to put themselves in position to win, but the game slipped into the kind of extra-inning mess that usually leaves a manager under the microscope. Atlanta scored six runs and still could not finish off the Mets, with the lineups missed chances and a thin bench leaving the club in a difficult spot once the game stretched beyond regulation.
Walt Weiss choices only made the margin for error smaller. The Braves were already navigating a less-than-ideal setup in extras, and the way the bullpen and lineup were handled became a major part of why a game that looked won turned into a loss, even before the final inning had fully played out. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Cant Afford Another Quiet Deadline From Alex Anthopoulos
With the trade deadline approaching, the Braves look like a club that cannot simply sit back and hope the rotation and outfield sort themselves out. ESPNs latest best-fit rundown had Atlanta attached to 17 of the top 25 deadline candidates, which is a pretty clear sign that the market sees a team with real needs and a front office that should be active. Starting pitching remains the obvious priority, and the list of names floating around ranges from Tarik Skubal and Joe Ryan to Sonny Gray, Reid Detmers, Casey Mize, Jose Soriano and Freddy Peralta.
The outfield search is a little murkier, with Taylor Ward looking like the most realistic target if Atlanta wants to add a bat without emptying the system. Shortstop is another area worth watching, but the price tag on the top names would be steep enough to make any deal complicated fast. For Alex Anthopoulos, the pressure is less about making a splash than avoiding another deadline that leaves the roster looking almost exactly the same when the dust settles. [Read more 🡒]