The Braves are heading into another winter with a familiar mission: figure out how to turn a good regular season into something better in October.
Atlanta won 94 games, took the National League East under first-year manager Walt Weiss and then watched the postseason end Wednesday with a Game 4 NLDS loss to the Dodgers. That leaves the Braves with another early exit and a playoff record that has been hard to ignore. Since winning the World Series in 2021, they’ve won only one postseason series - this year’s Wild Card Series - and are 5-12 in the playoffs.
There was still plenty that worked in 2026. After a rough, injury-filled 2025 season in Brian Snitker’s final year, the Braves rebounded by 18 wins and got healthier under Weiss. But the end result was the same old sting: a strong season that didn’t survive long enough once the games got bigger.
Now the focus shifts to what comes next, and the questions start with the core.
One of the biggest concerns is whether some of Atlanta’s longtime pillars are already sliding. Third baseman Austin Riley is at the center of that conversation.
He delivered a clutch homer in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, but the bigger picture has turned worrisome. From 2021 through 2023, Riley piled up three straight top-10 finishes in NL MVP voting.
Since then, his production has backed up each year. His OPS+ went from 135 during that peak stretch to 115 in 2024, then 105 in 2025, and all the way down to 80 this past season.
The underlying batted-ball numbers suggest the decline was real, not just bad luck, with rising strikeout, chase and whiff rates. He’s signed through 2032, so this is not a short-term issue.
Second baseman Ozzie Albies is in a similar lane. He’s on a $7 million team option for next season at the tail end of a very team-friendly extension, but his OPS+ has dropped every year since 2023. At age 29, he posted the worst quality of contact of his career this season, which is not the kind of trend Atlanta wants to see.
Ronald Acuña Jr. also dipped offensively in 2026, even as he moved farther away from his second ACL tear. He’s 28 and has club options for 2027 and 2028, but the warning signs are there: his average exit velocities have fallen sharply, and he has struggled to pull the ball in the air. He’s still not a liability, but if that authority doesn’t come back, the superstar version of Acuña Jr. may already be fading.
Catcher Sean Murphy is another name worth watching. He has been injured for most of the last three seasons and has often been ineffective when available.
That stings even more given what Atlanta gave up to get him - William Contreras, who was an All-Star this season with the Boston Red Sox, in the three-way deal that brought Murphy to the Braves. Murphy just turned 32 and is signed through 2028.
Not everything in the lineup is slipping, though. Matt Olson is still a top producer, and Drake Baldwin and Michael Harris II, both 25, look like long-term building blocks.
The other major question sits on the mound, starting with Chris Sale. In three seasons with Atlanta, the left-hander has posted a 2.36 ERA in 76 starts and one relief appearance while adding 15.6 WAR to his career total.
At 37, he’s still overpowering hitters, leading the majors in K/BB ratio this season and striking out more than 30% of opposing batters. His velocity spike has held, and the performance has been every bit as loud as the numbers suggest.
But he turns 38 in late March, and with his injury history, nothing is guaranteed.
If Atlanta wants to stay near the top of the NL East in 2027, it may need another big year from Sale.
It may also need a major addition to the rotation. The Braves are still in the market for a shortstop, and left field remains a problem, but another front-line starter could be the most pressing need of all.
The upcoming free-agent class isn’t especially deep, yet there are names that would matter. Tarik Skubal is the headliner, and Atlanta reportedly pursued him before the most recent trade deadline.
Michael King, Casey Mize, Freddy Peralta and Trevor Rogers are also in the mix, though the drop-off after Skubal and King is noticeable.
Payroll will matter here. The Braves have $176 million committed for next season before arbitration raises and Acuña Jr.’s $17 million club option.
Whether they can push further will depend on budget and on how the CBA talks play out. Still, if the Braves want to keep pressing while the Phillies age, the Mets continue to meander and the Marlins and Nationals work toward becoming threats, this is the time to stay aggressive.
What happens next in 2027 may come down to how boldly Atlanta attacks those holes.
In Other News...
Braves May Have Exposed A Costly Dodgers NLDS Problem
Miguel Rojas exited Game 3 of the 2026 NLDS after fouling a pitch off himself in the eighth inning and feeling low back pain, a development the Dodgers confirmed on their official social media. The stopgap infielder had already appeared to be working through something earlier in the night, with his back first bothering him after he fielded a ground ball in the fifth inning.
For a Dodgers club trying to navigate October with as little disruption as possible, the timing is the real concern. If Rojas cannot continue in the series, Los Angeles may be forced to make a postseason roster change, a move that would test the teams infield depth at a point when every available defender matters even more. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Suddenly Face A Miguel Rojas Problem In The NLDS
Miguel Rojas night ended early in the Dodgers National League Division Series game against the Braves after he fouled off a pitch and started showing signs of discomfort with a low back injury. Tommy Edman came on as a pinch hitter in his place, leaving Los Angeles to sort through an immediate issue at a spot where Rojas has helped steady things throughout the postseason run.
The bigger concern now is what this means for the rest of the series, because the Dodgers do not yet know how available Rojas will be moving forward. Any lingering limitation could force roster and lineup adjustments at a critical point, and for a team trying to keep its infield options intact in October, even a short-term absence would matter. [Read more 🡒]
Dave Roberts Made One Dodgers Gamble Look Brilliant In Game 3
Dave Roberts spent Game 3 pushing the right buttons, and the Dodgers benefited from nearly every one of them. He shuffled the batting order and got Kike Hernandez into a spot where he could make an impact, then watched Hernandez deliver a key two-run homer that helped set the tone. It was the kind of lineup tweak that can look minor before first pitch and inspired once the game starts bending your way.
Roberts also managed the night with a steady hand on the mound, letting Yoshinobu Yamamoto work seven innings before turning to Tanner Scott and Edwin Diaz to close the door. The sequencing mattered as much as the names themselves, giving Los Angeles a cleaner path through the late innings and underscoring how much this team can gain when its manager is willing to be aggressive at the right moments. [Read more 🡒]