An absolutely calamitous road trip out West finally comes to a close for the Braves, as they find themselves in a massive hole to start the season.
A week ago today, the Atlanta Braves began the 2025 season full of hope and optimism. 7 days and 7 games later, the Atlanta Braves still have yet to win a game and are off to one of the worst starts in franchise history — and quite possibly the worst start ever when you consider what the expectations were heading into this season. The 1988 Braves lost 10 in a row to start that season but also, I don’t think anybody was really expecting the ‘88 Braves to do much of anything. This Braves team was expected to be a World Series contender and while they have played two good teams that are off to hot starts, you still expect to pick up at least a game or two, right?
Either way, it’s a bummer and I hate that we’ve got to talk about this but as with all things when it comes to the Atlanta Braves around here, this must be documented. Let’s get into this.
Monday, March 31
Dodgers 6, Braves 1
Before this game even took place, it was an awful day for the Braves. Jurickson Profar was suspended for 80 games due to violating MLB’s PED policy and Reynaldo López was sent to the IL and will be having surgery on his right shoulder. Once the game took place, there wasn’t much to write home about as the Braves continued to look absolutely lifeless at the plate. Atlanta didn’t put a run on the board until Michael Harris II hit a dinger to at least make sure that the Braves didn’t suffer the ignominy of getting shut out for three games in a row. Other than that, this was the most fitting way to end what was an absolutely dreadful day for the club.
Tuesday, April 1
Dodgers 3, Braves 1
I’d like to publicly apologize to Scott Coleman for giving him these two games to write about. I can’t guarantee that it’ll get better but statistically speaking, things cannot get much worse than this. Yeah, I know I’m tempting fate by saying this but I really and truly do believe that this can’t get much worse.
Anyways, the Braves continued to look completely and utterly awful at the plate for a fourth straight game, which meant that the pressure was on Chris Sale to stay in the game for as long as possible in order to keep the Braves competitive for as long as possible. Atlanta actually had the lead early in this one thanks to Mookie Betts delivering what will likely be the worst throw of his career and basically giving the Braves a run.
However, Sale went through the order a third time and on most nights against the Dodgers, that’s a very bad idea. Mookie Betts hit a go-ahead two run homer in the sixth inning and then Will Smith made it 3-1 and that was that, as a two-run deficit for the Braves on this night may as well have been 20.
Wednesday, April 2
Dodgers 6, Braves 5
For the first time in nearly a week, the Atlanta Braves showed signs of life at the plate. The Dodgers once again helped them out a bit with some poor defense but the offense actually took advantage of what was not a great start by Blake Snell. At one point in this game, the Braves led 5-0, which was truly a sight for sore eyes after what we have been privy to over the past few days.
However, a five-run lead against the Dodgers isn’t safe because, well, it’s the Dodgers. Bryce Elder deserves credit for making a very solid start — however, it was the typical Bryce Elder outing where he’ll look great and completely mystify his competition at times and then turn around and serve up some of the juiciest meatballs any big league hitter could hope to see. That explained the three runs he gave up while he was out there, as both Tommy Edman and Michael Conforto hit some bombs off of hangers that very likely made their eyes bulge out of their heads once they recognized what it was.
Bryce Elder left the game in the fourth inning, which meant it was up to the bullpen to make the lead hold. As you can imagine, this turned into an extremely nervy affair where the bullpen precariously walked across the tightrope in order to keep the lead. The dam finally broke in the eighth inning, which is when Brian Snitker inexplicably pulled Daysbel Hernández in the middle of an AB with a 2-0 count in order to bring in Raisel Iglesias for a five-out save.
As you can imagine, this didn’t pan out. Iglesias finished off the AB with a walk and then Max Muncy delivered a devastating blow to tie the game up at five runs apiece. The Braves were unable to respond in the bottom of the eighth, which meant that it was all set up for Shohei Ohtani to do in the ninth inning what Shohei Ohtani usually does in situations like this. He hit what was probably the most predictable walk-off homer you’ll ever see and the Braves completed what I feel very confident in saying is one of the worst road trips in franchise history.
If you made it to the end, I appreciate you. I appreciate all of y’all who come here on a daily basis in general. This has been an awful stretch of baseball but you all have made it worth it as you continue to swing by and stick with the team through thick and thin. Again, I can’t guarantee that this is going to get better but surely we’re going to get to a point where we can start having some fun around here again.
For now, the Braves continue to suffer through one of their worst starts to a season and the only hope now is that an off day and finally getting some home cooking can help them get over what was truly The Road Trip from Hell.