It’s been more of the same for the Braves over the last week, which for those who’ve been following the sputtering team this season know is not a good trend. Atlanta's 2-5 record over the last seven games leaves the team just half a game ahead of a rebuilding Washington Nationals team in the NL East. The Steakhouse discussed the woes and grasped for answers Friday.
The picture in the National League is an ugly one for the Braves. Steak Shapiro pointed out the shocking fact that the team has more wins than only three other National League teams – the Rockies, Marlins and Pirates.
While it’s still only the end of May, the Braves have four teams between them and the last Wild Card spot in the NL, essentially meaning the Braves will need to have a better record than all those teams – the Giants, Brewers, Reds and Diamondbacks – in order to reach the playoffs.
To make matters worse, the Braves continue to lose players to injury – this time AJ Smith-Shawver reportedly claiming to have heard a “pop” in his elbow and is likely to be out for the year. Smith-Shawver was off to the most promising year of his career so far before the injury and had carved out a role in the starting rotation.
The Braves will hope to start a turnaround this weekend as they play host to a struggling Red Sox team.