With one week left before the trade deadline, the Braves are right where you’d expect them to be: in the middle of the noise. The market hasn’t fully exploded yet, but the early movement is already underway, and Atlanta figures to be part of the action once things really start to fly. The club’s needs are clear enough for now - starting pitching, bullpen help and a right-handed bat that matters, with outfield and shortstop options likely getting the strongest look.
That’s the backdrop as the league shifts into deadline mode, and there’s already been some activity around the edges. The Red Sox added Curtis Mead over the weekend, and a wave of smaller roster moves has started to ripple across baseball as teams get themselves lined up for the stretch run.
One of the more telling signs of what’s coming: scouts are showing up in force around the Braves’ minor league system. According to The Athletic’s Jesus Cano, evaluators from around the league have been spotted in numbers, including scouts from at least the Padres, Tigers and A’s at high-A Rome over the weekend. Cano’s report also said JR Ritchie and John Gil have emerged as early popular trade targets.
While the deadline picture sharpens, one Braves legend finally got his long-awaited moment in Cooperstown. Andruw Jones was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame over the weekend after waiting until his ninth year on the ballot. For a player widely viewed as one of the greatest defensive center fielders ever - and one of the best overall to play the position - the ceremony brought a fitting ending to a long wait.
Jones’ induction speech was packed with gratitude and recognition for the Braves greats who helped shape his career. It was the kind of speech worth sitting through from start to finish, especially with the way Jones acknowledged both the challenge of getting into the Hall and the people who helped carry him there.
Atlanta also got a boost in the latest MLB power rankings. After a rough June that tightened the NL East race, the Braves have steadied themselves with three straight series wins and now sit atop the division by 5.5 games again. That surge has pushed them back to No. 3, behind only the Dodgers and Brewers.
MLB pointed out that the Braves should get even stronger when Ronald Acuña Jr. returns this week, and the Brewers could wind up being their biggest obstacle the rest of the way as both teams chase a first-round bye.
In Other News...
Braves Make Intriguing Pitching Change Right Before Mets Doubleheader
The Braves shuffled their pitching staff on the eve of a doubleheader with the Mets, a move that brings a familiar arm back into the mix and adds another fresh option to a rotation that has been asked to do a lot. AJ Smith-Shawver has been activated for his season debut after working his way back through Gwinnett, while Elieser Hernndez has also been added to the major league roster as Atlanta tries to manage the strain of two games in one day.
The timing matters because the Braves needed a response after Connor Thomas was sent to Triple-A Gwinnett following a rough outing, and now they are hoping the new look gives them a better chance to navigate the matchup. Hernndez has offered some recent signs of stability, and Smith-Shawvers return gives Atlanta another layer of depth as it heads into a stretch where every inning can shape the rest of the week. [Read more 🡒]
Mets Fans Could Hardly Believe How Long Braves Let This Go
Connor Thomas night against the Mets quickly turned into one of those outings a team wants to forget, and the Braves never really found a way to stop the bleeding. In 2.2 innings, Thomas was tagged for 11 runs on 10 hits and issued five walks, a rough line that put Atlanta in a deep hole and left the game feeling out of hand long before the final outs were recorded.
What stood out even more was how long the Braves stayed with him. Rather than turning to more bullpen arms, they let Thomas keep going until his pitch count reached 78, a decision that only added to the frustration around the outing. For a club trying to piece together innings, it was the kind of night that raises questions about workload, damage control and how quickly Atlanta can move on from a performance like this. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Cannot Afford These Deadline Mistakes Again
As the Braves look toward the trade deadline, the temptation is always to chase the biggest name or the flashiest fit. But this is one of those stretches where Atlanta has to be careful not to spend prospect capital on players who look more appealing in theory than they do in the context of this roster, especially with bigger needs still sitting elsewhere on the club.
That caution applies across a few different lanes, from Brandon Moniaks Coors Field-driven production to the kind of premium price a reliever like Mason Miller would command. It also extends to the infield and rotation, where shortstop depth makes a move there less urgent and a starter like Brady Singer would not move the needle enough to justify the cost, leaving the Braves with a simple but important task: avoid the wrong kind of upgrade. [Read more 🡒]