Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr. update, rotation still in flux + more<\/b><\/a><\/p>\nWith the All-Star break approaching and the Aug. 3 trade deadline not far behind, it\u2019s fair to wonder what general manager and president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos could do to bolster Atlanta\u2019s roster for the second half.<\/p>\n
SP is a must<\/b><\/p>\n
With Strider on the injured list due to right elbow inflammation, Atlanta\u2019s rotation is down to Chris Sale, Bryce Elder, Grant Holmes, Martin Perez and a coin flip as to who\u2019s been filling that final spot. <\/p>\n
JR Ritchie has handled that role recently, but after a few rough starts, the Braves have turned back to Reynaldo L\u00f3pez, who opened the season in the rotation before being moved to the bullpen in late April.<\/p>\n
Perez has been surprisingly effective this season. His 3.00 ERA and 136 ERA+ are both second only to his 2022 season for career bests. <\/p>\n
Elder looked like an ace through the season\u2019s first two months, but regression has hit hard. He has allowed 19 runs over his last three starts.<\/p>\n
Atlanta is also without Spencer Schwellenbach, AJ Smith-Shawver and Joey Wentz, all of whom remain on the injured list. Hurston Waldrep also opened the season on the IL but has since returned and is currently piggybacking with L\u00f3pez as the club continues to evaluate both pitchers.<\/p>\n
Whether it\u2019s realistic or not, Atlanta has recently been linked to two-time defending American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal. The Detroit Tigers are out of contention and could explore moving the impending free agent, who is returning from elbow surgery but has still posted a 3.15 ERA and 0.91 WHIP across 11 starts this season.<\/p>\n
The Braves have both the financial flexibility and prospect capital to put together a competitive offer for Skubal, though acquiring him would almost certainly require a significant package for what could amount to a two-month rental. No prospect is truly untouchable, and any value surrendered in a deal for Skubal \u2014 or another frontline starter \u2014 can eventually be replenished.<\/p>\n
Atlanta should continue monitoring Skubal\u2019s market, but there are other potential rotation upgrades available. Possible alternatives include Boston\u2019s Sonny Gray, Toronto\u2019s Kevin Gausman\u2014 if the Blue Jays decide to sell \u2014 and, if the Braves miss out on Skubal, Detroit\u2019s Casey Mize.<\/p>\n
Gray is reportedly open to waiving his no-trade clause if Boston decides to become a seller, according to the Boston Globe. The 2023 American League Cy Young Award runner-up has posted a 2.69 ERA across 83.2 innings this season.<\/p>\n
Gausman owns a 4.36 ERA through 17 starts, while Mize has recorded a 2.63 ERA in 12. Gausman and Mize are free agents at the end of the season, making them prime rental options.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s difficult to envision the Braves making a serious postseason run without exploring external help for the rotation as the trade deadline approaches.<\/p>\n
A big bat<\/b><\/p>\n
The Braves signed Ha-Seong Kim to a one-year, $20 million contract over the offseason, and toward the end of June, he\u2019s in the midst of the worst season of his career.<\/p>\n
Through 26 games, Kim is 5-for-62 with 22 strikeouts compared to seven walks and a .239 OPS – which equates to roughly $4 million per hit from the 30-year-old.<\/p>\n
He missed the first 41 games of the season after he slipped on ice in Korea over the offseason, injuring his hand and, for a little while, lost his everyday role at shortstop in favor of Jorge Mateo, who is hitting .262 with a 102 OPS+ entering Tuesday while making $1 million in 2026.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s certainly not what the team has wanted from Kim, who they signed after he hit .253 with 12 RBIs and 14 runs scored in 24 games for Atlanta after being claimed off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays in September.<\/p>\n
In addition to Kim\u2019s struggles, Austin Riley has a slash line of .207\/.286\/.333 and eight home runs across 83 games this season, making him one of the worst hitters in baseball at the moment.<\/p>\n
With Kim, Riley and Baldwin all scuffling, the Braves posted a 65 wRC+ in June, the worst mark in Major League Baseball.<\/p>\n
If Atlanta decides it needs outside help, Washington Nationals shortstop and Georgia native CJ Abrams has surfaced as a potential trade target. However, acquiring Abrams would likely require a significant return \u2014 assuming the Nationals decide to become sellers. The Braves must now decide whether to wait for their lineup to get healthy and rebound or seek an external boost before the trade deadline.<\/p>\n
Another bullpen arm<\/b><\/p>\n
Raisel Iglesias is holding down the fort as closer, but Suarez\u2019s injury could get the team interested in acquiring extra arm down the stretch.<\/p>\n
Now, the team can get by with what they have – Iglesias, Dylan Lee, Tyler Kinley, Didier Fuentes, Ian Hamilton, James Karinchak, Dylan Dodd – but an addition, even a cheap one, could be helpful in the long run.<\/p>\n
Aroldis Chapman is intriguing. The 38-year-old southpaw is still consistently pumping 100 mph with his fastball, and with that a 2.19 ERA with 16 saves for the Boston Red Sox this season.<\/p>\n
With the Red Sox last in the AL East, all indications point to the team selling come the deadline, and that includes players such as Chapman, Jarren Duran and Willson Contreras.<\/p>\n
The Braves began a 13-game stretch Tuesday that will carry them into the All-Star break. The stretch includes home series against the Cardinals and New York Mets at Truist Park, along with road trips to Pittsburgh for a series against the Pirates and to St. Louis for another set with the Cardinals.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 WANF. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – The Atlanta Braves are leaking oil. Atlanta won just one of six…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":904781,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[41],"tags":[126983,170849,366188,76707,3960,366196,1280,366165,366164,76706,11581,22900,366190,366189,366186,366187,366169,366191,366170,109501,47503,366168,4139,6597,366194,366195,5915,366184,366185,366183,366172,16755,366178,366179,366177,366166,366167,1884,1266,52993,366193,5054,366182,366180,366181,254305,52283,62,34551,366176,366175,366173,366174,39333,366192,67,132,68,11582,366171],"class_list":["post-904780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-aj-smith-shawver","tag-alex-anthopoulos","tag-alex-anthopoulos-braves","tag-anf","tag-aroldis-chapman","tag-aroldis-chapman-trade","tag-atlanta-braves","tag-atlanta-braves-starting-pitchers","tag-atlanta-braves-trade-deadline","tag-atlanta-news","tag-atlanta-news-first","tag-braves","tag-braves-front-office","tag-braves-gm","tag-braves-trade-deadline","tag-braves-trade-deadline-needs","tag-braves-trade-deadline-rumors","tag-braves-trade-deadline-targets","tag-braves-trade-targets","tag-bryce-elder","tag-casey-mize","tag-casey-mize-braves","tag-chris-sale","tag-cj-abrams","tag-cj-abrams-braves","tag-cj-abrams-trade","tag-ha-seong-kim","tag-ha-seong-kim-baseball","tag-ha-seong-kim-braves","tag-ha-seong-kim-stats","tag-is-tarik-skubal-getting-traded","tag-kevin-gausman","tag-kevin-gausman-atlanta","tag-kevin-gausman-braves","tag-kevin-gausman-toronto","tag-kim-braves","tag-kim-braves-stats","tag-major-league-baseball","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-trade-deadline","tag-mlb-trade-deadline-analysis","tag-sonny-gray","tag-sonny-gray-atlanta","tag-sonny-gray-trade","tag-sonny-gray-trade-rumors","tag-spencer-schwellenbach","tag-spencer-strider","tag-sports","tag-tarik-skubal","tag-tarik-skubal-braves","tag-tarik-skubal-braves-trade-rumors","tag-tarik-skubal-trade","tag-tarik-skubal-trade-rumors","tag-trade-deadline","tag-trade-deadline-rumors","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-wanf","tag-where-will-tarik-skubal-be-trded"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=904780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/904781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=904780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=904780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=904780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}