The Atlanta Braves are currently off to an absolutely abysmal start, especially when compared to the lofty expectations that this ballclub had heading into the season. They’ve played six games, lost six games and the reason is glaringly clear. The offense has been nightmarishly bad.

The Braves have looked completely bereft of ideas and especially adrift at the plate. As bad as you think the Braves are currently swinging the bat right now, it’s worse. It’s not just bad. It’s “World War II-era Boston Braves” bad. I didn’t just make that up — Codify Baseball brought the receipts in that regard.

Let’s take a quick look back at that 1942 Boston Braves team, since it’s so fresh in everybody’s memory around here. Managed by the legendary Casey Stengel, the ‘42 Braves were anything but legendary as they finished the season with a record of 59-89-2, with only the Philaelphia Phils (Yes, just Phils) going 42-100 preventing the Braves from finishing in last place in the National League that season.

While C Ernie Lombardi certainly did his part with a league-leading batting average of .330 to go with a .403 on-base percentage, .482 slugging percentage and an OPS+ of 162, he didn’t get much help otherwise. Only four other regulars had an OPS+ above the league average of 100. hey finished that year with a team wRC+ of 88, which was the third-worst mark in the eight-team National League and 19th among the 28 teams that are now recognized as having played Major League baseball in 1942. While this era wasn’t exactly known for offensive explosions, this was still a team that scuffled at the plate.

Additionally, I think I’ve identified the stretch of games where this run of awful batting took place. During the span of August 23-30 1942, the Boston Braves scored a grand total of 10 runs over six games. They somehow conspired to score four runs in a game where they only had three hits and the team hit .103 for the game. I’d imagine if xBA was well-known back then, we would’ve heard Reds fans in Cincinnati crowing on the street corner by the newspaper boy about how the Braves robbed them of a win.

Fast forward to 2025 and the Braves have currently scored nine runs over their first six games of the season. Atlanta is currently in a tier of their own as far as stats go. Normally I hate to even look at stats like this this early in the season but it has to be mentioned just to give you an idea of how bad this team is currently hitting at the moment. The Braves as a team are currently hitting .137/.228/.220 with a .216 wOBA and a completely atrocious wRC+ of 36. Thirty-six!!! Every one of those numbers have the Braves placed firmly at the foot of each category and they’ll have some work to do to escape the cellar for most of those numbers as well.

The one sequence that stands out to me and basically explains how everything has been going for the Braves actually took place on Tuesday night. Down 3-1 in the top of the eighth, Nick Allen started off the inning with a leadoff single. This was the third time (somehow) that the Braves had gotten the leadoff runner aboard last night and Allen appeared determined to make sure that this opportunity didn’t pass by the wayside.

With one out and the top of the order at the plate, Allen stole second base in order to reach scoring position. Surely, with hitters the caliber of Michael Harris II, Austin Riley and Matt Olson coming up to bat with the game still within reach at just a two-run deficit, this appeared to be the perfect time for something to finally get going and it appeared that Nick Allen would be that spark.

Instead, Allen was left stranded at second base after Harris hit a harmless fly ball, Riley struck out looking (on a dubious strike three, mind you) and Olson lost a nine-pitch duel by grounding out to end the inning. Blake Treinen wiped out the Braves in the eighth inning and then Tanner Scott delivered the finishing blow in the ninth inning by retiring Atlanta in order.

That was it and that was all, as the one run the Braves scored on Tuesday was because Mookie Betts became possessed by the spirit of 2000 Chuck Knoblauch and uncorked a throw in the general direction of first base that was so bad that Betts had to field it, himself, while the Braves scored on the error. That means that the Braves have scored a grand total of one (1) earned run over their past four games. I’m going to post the video because we need some levity.

So that’s. just it then, right? The offense is completely cooked and all hope is lost, correct? While this is an absolutely miserable way to start the season and the Braves are going to have to spend a lot of time digging themselves out of this hole, it’s not a completely hopeless situation. It’s impossible to feel hopeless in April and while these have been six of some of most hot dog-flavored water games we’ve seen this team play relative to expectations, it’s only been six games. As Ivan has been noting on a daily basis, the Braves have out-xwOBA’d their opponents in three of the six games so far — which is pretty impressive considering who their opposition has been so far.

That’s also another thing to consider: Their opposition has been really good so far. We all expected that the Dodgers would come out of the gates swinging and sure enough, they’re undefeated to start the season. Additionally, if you let their fans tell it, they still aren’t even firing on all cylinders at the moment. Meanwhile, the Padres are still undefeated, themselves, and are probably cursing their luck that they have to share a division with that blue team up North — otherwise, they’d have the spotlight to themselves right now.

Combine that with the fact that the Braves themselves have never really had consistent success in either one of these ballparks (which I touched upon over this past weekend) and we have a recipe for disaster. We really should’ve acknowledged that this was a possibility — it sucks, no doubt, but this was still a real possibility that they’d get the smackdown laid upon them while they were out West. We’re very likely looking at the actual very-worst-case scenario (especially when you add in the loss of Jurickson Profar due to PED suspension and Reynaldo López for two months [at least] due to injury) playing itself out.

However, even with their Postseason odds already dwindling significantly, there’s hope that things will get significantly better in the near future. They’ll have an opening homestand where hopefully they can finally start to get right. Spencer Strider is on rehab assignment and it’s going well. Sean Murphy is on rehab assignment and it’s going well. Ronald Acuña Jr. could be cleared to start ramping up for a potential return in the very near future. Additionally, the pitching has been fine for the most part and the Braves have acknowledged the mistakes they made with the bullpen and have been quick on their feet to address that issue even in the early portion of the season.

On top of all that, I just refuse to believe that everybody involved with this offense will be this bad. Now granted, this is after a rough season that saw a lot of guys struggle to get going and we’re in the midst of what appears to be a clear adjustment period at the plate under the tutelage of new hitting coach Tim Hyers. With all of that being said, at some point these guys are going to start living up to the reputation on the back of their baseball cards. This team is not just going to magically become bad with the track record that they’ve had in the past. They may be struggling and pressing trying to figure this out but I do have faith that they’ll figure it out eventually. There’s too much talent for this lineup to be this dreadful.

So while this team (and the offense in particular) is currently a living, breathing collective dumpster fire, it’s likely not going to be like that always. They’ll get right eventually and maybe we’ll start having some fun around here. For now, the Braves are fated to suffer in this moment and maybe this will be something to reflect positively upon once the end of the season rolls around. Who knows what the future holds, but I do know that there’s no way that the Braves can keep on being this bad — right?