Three Atlanta Braves acquisitions in the first half of the season

SAN DIEGO — Considering the Braves lost reigning National League MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. to a season-ending knee injury in late May after losing Cy Young favorite Spencer Strider from the preseason in early April, it perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise that the six-time reigning NL East champions are 8 1/2 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies.

There was some great pitching as the Braves’ top three starters — All-Stars Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez and Max Fried — and a deep bullpen produced a major-leading 3.40 ERA. And if the Braves had anything resembling their overwhelming 2023 offense, the Braves likely would be tied for or ahead of the Phillies.

Atlanta got one of the few good offensive performances on Sunday when Sale threw five innings and gave up one run and Travis d’Arnaud hit two home runs in a 6-3 victory over San Diego, ending a 4-3 tie and concluding the symbolic first half of the season.

“It’s been a weird few months, but it’s better to have it happen now than in September,” said d’Arnaud, who drove in four runs. “We can all rest and relax and forget a little bit about what happened and come back and play the baseball that we all know we can do.”

Chris Sale’s 13 wins are the most by a Braves pitcher at the All-Star break since John Smoltz had 14 in 1996. (Denis Poroy/Getty Images)

D’Arnaud also picked up his third career stolen base and his first since 2020, running to second base in the fourth inning when unsuspecting Padres starter Randy Vásquez used his full windup.

D’Arnaud, a Los Angeles native whose parents, brother and cousin were also in attendance, was happy to have a big game coming up and to help Sale (13-3) become the first Braves starter with at least 13 wins before halftime since John Smoltz had 14 in his 24-win Cy Young Award season in 1996.

“It means I had a great bullpen coming in behind me and some offensive support and great defense,” Sale said. “I appreciate it. I’m lucky to be where I am. There’s still a lot of work to do. We’re only halfway there, it’s not something to hang your hat on yet.

“We’ve been saying it all year, we’re just waiting for it all to fall into place. We’ve had a great run this weekend. Hopefully we come back from the break, take a few days off and rejuvenate ourselves and get straight into it. I think we’re there. We’re as close as we’ve ever been.”

The Phillies, who had defeated the Dodgers, had lost two of three games against Oakland before halftime, but still have baseball’s best record and a commanding lead in the division.

Matt Olson, who is in a slump, will miss this game

After appearing in the All-Star Game in two of the past three seasons, slumping first baseman Matt Olson is heading home to regroup during this break, as are the rest of the Braves infielders who joined him on the 2023 All-Star team. Catcher Sean Murphy, Acuña, Strider and pitcher Bryce Elder were also All-Stars last season.

None of those eight All-Stars repeated this season. Elder is at Triple-A, Murphy missed two months with an oblique injury and the others have declined statistically, though none as precipitously as Olson.

His best season last year has only made this season more confusing for Olson, who has 13 homers, 44 RBIs and a .714 OPS. He is hitting .229 with 109 strikeouts and 36 walks, after hitting .283 with 167 strikeouts and 104 walks last season.

After a disappointing start to 2024, Olson warmed up with a .331 average, 10 home runs and a .976 OPS in his next 33 games through June 16. But he’s back to square one, batting .168 with two home runs, five RBIs, 34 strikeouts and a .509 OPS in 26 games before Sunday, when he had a game-tying RBI single in the fourth inning.

“Of course you want to be part of (the All-Star Game) and have that honor,” he said. “But a little bit of decompression is good too.”

Sometimes it’s probably best to rest

With the exception of Marcell Ozuna, the All-Star DH who flew to Arlington, Texas, with Atlanta’s All-Star pitchers in a private jet after Sunday’s game, the rest of the Braves were told to take the break and return Friday for a strong second half. They will not meet for batting practice until then.

“Go home. (Manager Brian Snitker) wants us all to have four days,” said hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, who has spent many sleepless nights in recent months trying to figure out what buttons to push and playing Whac-A-Mole to help several players who were simultaneously in a slump. “And these guys need a break, both mentally and physically.

“So, that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to take a break.”

A year ago, the Braves entered the All-Star break comfortably leading the majors in home runs (169), hitting percentage (.492) and OPS (.830), and ranked second in average (.270), OBP (.338) and runs per game (5.6).

This year, they rank tied for 10th in home runs (109), tied for 11th in slugging (.405), tied for 14th in OPS (.709), tied for 17th in average (.241), tied for 23rd in OBP (.304) and tied for 18th in runs per game (4.28).

Assessing the Leadoff Position

Michael Harris II struggled, like most of the Braves’ hitters, but the smooth center fielder was 6-for-18 with a triple in his last five games before suffering a Grade 2 strain to his left hamstring on June 14. He was beginning to look comfortable at the leadoff position, where he had been mostly since Acuña’s knee injury on May 26.

Harris has since been sidelined and still hasn’t been cleared to sprint, so it’s likely to be a few weeks before he’s back. But one of the few bright spots in the Braves’ lineup has been the work of Jarred Kelenic, who moved from left field to center and from the bottom of the order to the leadoff position after Harris’ injury.

After hitting .316 with 15 extra-base hits, including seven homers, and a .937 OPS in a 33-game series through June 29, Kelenic is 8-for-56 (.143) with three extra-base hits in his last 14 games.

“I think he’s done a phenomenal job,” Harris said Sunday morning. “I think that leadoff position is not the easiest place to hit. But he’s definitely done a great job there. And he’s held his own as a center fielder. He’s done a great job, in my opinion.”

Harris will return to center field once he’s ready to rejoin the Braves, but what about leadoff? It’s unclear what the Braves will do with that role, but if Kelenic continues to struggle, Harris could return to leadoff duties as well.

“I was just getting used to leading, I was comfortable before that (injury) happened,” Harris said. “Wherever I am when I come back, I don’t really care as long as I’m performing and helping the team.”

(Top photo of Matt Olson: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)