I asked Demetrius Bell some questions about the Braves ahead of their series with the Washington Nationals
Battery Power is one of the premier baseball sites in the SB Nation network. With the Braves coming to town, I wanted to pick one of their writers brains about the state of the 2025 Atlanta Braves, as well as their thoughts about the Nationals from afar. I turned to Demetrius Bell, asking him a few questions.
- How have the Braves get back over .500 after that 0-7 start, what is clicking?
Despite losing a vital part of their rotation in Reynaldo López for most of this season and Jurickson Profar to a PED suspension until after the All-Star break (plus missing Acuña and Strider though that was expected heading into this season), the Braves have still just found a way to keep it going. A lot of this has to do with the fact that the offense has started to perform like normal.
Ever since their 0-7 start, the Braves have the 12th-best team wRC+ in baseball at 104. One of the things that hurt them the most during that rough start was the fact that the offense just disappeared for long stretches of time. As the old saying goes, “If you can’t score, you can’t win” and the Braves were having an absolute nightmare putting runs on the board during that early stretch.
Now, the lineup has gotten going while the pitching staff has largely settled down as well. Basically, the entire team has gotten back into a groove again and while they’re still nowhere near where they should/could be at this point in the season, it’s clear that things are starting to level off and this team has started to play more to expectations despite the missing personnel.
2. What is the overall mood of the fanbase right now?
I’d say that there’s still some lingering frustration surrounding the rough start. Remember, this is right after the team had an incredibly underwhelming 2024 season that saw them limp into a Postseason spot and get dumped out in two games.
Even though this is a franchise that spends money, the fans have been pretty upset about the lack of high-profile additions to the club during the offseason. I’m right there with the fans since I believe that they definitely should’ve found a way to improve their rotation and shortstop situation.
With that being said, the Braves have never been a team that makes splashes in free agency so maybe that’s just something us fans need to get over? Either way, I’d say that while the fans are excited that the team’s turning it around, there’s also a sense of frustration at the fact that the Braves are even in this position in the first place. We’re a spoiled bunch around here, haha.
3. What would you say the strengths and weaknesses of the team are?
The strength of this team in its current era will usually be the infield. Atlanta’s seemingly always had a strong situation at catcher and that appears to be the case again with Sean Murphy and Drake Baldwin. They’re covered at the corners with Austin Riley and Matt Olson both capable of elite production and Ozzie Albies certainly has star potential (even if he hasn’t played like a star for a while now). The only question is at shortstop but with the surrounding players in the infield, you just need someone who can be good enough and so far, Nick Allen has slotted in and been okay.
As far as weaknesses go, as of this very second it’s the outfield. That’ll very likely change by the time this season is over because by then, they’ll have an outfield consisting of Profar, Michael Harris II and Acuña but right now, it’s rough. Harris has been underperforming to start the season and as such, the outfield has collectively hit .225/.274/.333 with 66 wRC+ so far this season. That is nasty work and it’s honestly impressive that the Braves have been able to get back over .500 despite getting barely anything from their outfielders at the plate so far.
4. This Sean Murphy/Drake Baldwin situation is both amazing and weird, how do you think they resolve that long term?
Well as of right now, the Braves appear perfectly content to let Murphy and Baldwin split time together while figuring it out in the future. I will say that there have been a bunch of fans who have been clamoring for the Braves to trade Murphy and just let Baldwin be the full-time guy going forward. While I’d imagine that Baldwin is very likely the long-term solution, I don’t think I’m at the point to where I agree that they should trade Murphy.
Baldwin’s gotten off to a fantastic start so far but there’s also a very strong possibility that pitchers could catch up to what Baldwin is doing right now and he’ll have a period where he’s hitting at far below a 172 wRC+ clip. Plus it’s not like Sean Murphy’s just completely washed up, himself — Murphy has been producing at the plate and he provides better defense, as you could imagine from a veteran who has a reputation for providing a lot as a defensive catcher.
So you’re right, it’s an amazing and weird situation and I really don’t envy Alex Anthopoulos. It’s a good problem to have but it’s definitely something that they’ll need to figure out a long term solution for at some point.
5. What needs to happen for the Braves to get back in a playoff spot and challenge for the NL East?
I think they just need to keep up the level of production that they’ve been providing over recent weeks and they’ll be fine eventually. It’s already pretty impressive that they’ve managed to eat that 0-7 start and they’ve done so with Strider only making one start, Profar only playing a handful of games, López being out for a substantial period of time and Acuña having not returned yet.
If they can stay healthy, get their guys back and continue playing like they have recently then I really wouldn’t be shocked at all if they were right in the thick of it for the divisional title once the end of the season rolls around. There’s no guarantees but I’ve really liked what I’ve seen from this club lately despite all the adversity they’ve had to endure to start the season.
6. From the outside, what are your thoughts on this Nationals team and their future?
Oh, I really like Washington’s core. I’m so impressed with James Wood — that dude is the Real Deal like Holyfield and I’d be thrilled to have him if I was a Nationals fan. Dylan Crews looks like he’s going to be really impressive as well, CJ Abrams appears ready to make a big leap and I also really like what y’all have going with MacKenzie Gore.
I don’t know how y’all feel about Jake Irvin but his performances against the Braves in 2024 have put the fear of God in me and I was so relieved that the Braves actually got to him a bit when they faced off last week. But yeah, I think the Nats have a pretty bright future and I’m looking forward to your team annoying me greatly once y’all eventually put it all together and get this team contending again.