Braves Stumble Out of the Gate in 2025

San Diego Dismissed The Braves Without Much Trouble , Sweeping Four Games

We're not yet to April , and the Braves are in last place in their division.

The Hometown Boys had a rough weekend in San Diego. They lost game one when their bullpen blew up, giving up four runs in the 7th to lead to a 7-4 Padres win. Hector Neris was the main culprit, allowing three earned runs and retiring no one.

The following night saw a 4-3 Padres victory, with Dylan Lee giving up the late go-ahead run.

The third game was claimed by San Diego, despite a gem by Spencer Schwellenbach. This time it was Aaron Bummer who allowed a late hit and a walk and the game's only run.

Game four brought another shutout, this time while the Padres faced the minimum. The Braves garnered one hit, and one walk, each time leading to a double play.

For a cherry on top of the Braves futility, the final three Atlanta hitters fanned.

At a glance, the weekend looked like an exposure of a shaky bullpen. But the biggest culprit was a weak offense, which seemingly got weaker as the series went along.

Weak as in 1 for 20 with runners in scoring position. And no runs scored over the final 22 innings.

Of course it's baseball, and so there were plenty of what-ifs and almosts.. Hard hit balls by the Braves found gloves , or hit the edges of walls. Meanwhile the Padres got a number of good bounces.

Four Games of 162 is about like the first 50 yards of a marathon. It doesn't mean much. But it still feels bad. And next up are the big bad Dodgers.

But it's still baseball.