By: Sam Goldfarb
Despite high preseason aspirations, the Atlanta Braves (30-35) are truly treading water in their quest for a fourth straight playoff berth. After dropping six of its last seven games, Atlanta has tumbled to third in the NL East standings, sitting 7.5 games back of the division-leading New York Mets a little under a month before the All-Star break. The Braves will look to break out of their prolonged skid in the friendly confines of Truist Park on Thursday night, opening a pivotal four-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals (35-33).
Atlanta’s 2021 campaign has been marred by inconsistency since Opening Day, but the Braves have flirted with a complete free-fall of late. Despite entering this month with a 25-26 record and sole control of second place in the NL East, Atlanta have struggled to log wins over the past two-and-a-half weeks, posting a 5-9 record in June. The Braves have hit an absolute wall in the last seven days, dropping two out of three in Philadelphia and Miami before being swept by the Boston Red Sox earlier this week in a two-game home series.
Embed from Getty ImagesSimply put, very few of Atlanta’s issues boil down to its offense. The Braves boast one of the best and deepest lineups in the majors, knocking in 317 total runs in 2021 (11th in the MLB). Four starters have also crossed the ten home-run threshold, and slugger Ronald Acuña Jr. lead the National League with 18 moonshots. Atlanta’s star player has bounced back from a recent May slump, hitting a red-hot .321 and driving in nine runs this month.
However, the Braves’ bullpen has struggled all season, and it has suffered a full-blown meltdown over the past seven days. During Atlanta’s weeklong collapse, relievers have been directly responsible for four of their six losses, dropping three of those games from winning positions. The Braves entered the seventh inning of both Red Sox matchups with the win up for grabs (led 7-6 Wednesday, were tied at 7 on Tuesday), but they allowed crushing home runs in each contest, ultimately costing them two crucial wins.
The Braves will hope to bounce back against a St. Louis Cardinals team fresh off a devastating slump of its own. St. Louis fell in 9 of its first 11 games to open June, enduring a six-game losing streak and sweeps at the hands of two divisional rivals (Reds and Cubs) in that span. However, the Cardinals rebounded well and silenced the Miami Marlins to open the week, allowing just three total runs in three consecutive victories.
St. Louis has posted strikingly average team numbers thus far, but it will present more than enough firepower to trouble a struggling Braves pitching staff. Although the Cardinals are just 19th in runs scored (277 total) and 17th in runs allowed (304 total), they feature a balanced lineup with several standout players. The entire Cards’ top-six is hitting above .245 with 18+ RBIs, offering a speedster leadoff man in Tommy Edman (12 SBs), along with sluggers Paul Goldschmidt (9 HRs), Nolan Arenado (12 HRs), and Tyler O’Neill (15 HRs).
Given Atlanta’s pitching depth issues, it will hope starter Charlie Moore (5-3, 4.50 ERA) can work his way deep into Thursday night’s showdown. The right-hander was a bit shaky in last Friday’s loss to the Marlins (4.0 IP, 4 H, 4 ER), but he has earned wins in three of his last four outings. He will square off against former Brave John Gant (4-4, 3.36 ERA), who has been rocked in his last two starts (12 ER in just 5.2 total IP). Both starters will have their hands full with star-studded opposing lineups, setting up a series that may test both pitching staffs.
