Atlanta Braves designated hitter Marcell Ozuna Mady Mertens-Imagn Images

Statistics Suggest Braves Offensive Struggles are Organizational Problem

Originally posted on Atlanta Braves on SI
By Dave Holcomb | Last updated Jul 3, 2025 10:22 AM ET

The Atlanta Braves experienced a big offensive night against the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday.

First baseman Matt Olson slammed the team's second grand slam of the season. The return of outfielder Jurickson Profar, who was sidelined 80 games because of a PED suspension, provided a huge boost as well. Profar went 2-for-4 with a solo homer and two runs scored.

But overall, it's been a slog for the Braves offense during 2025. That's especially been true lately.

Prior to Wednesday, Braves' Nick Allen, Marcell Ozuna, Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris II were all ranked among the bottom 20 qualified MLB hitters in OPS since June 1. Ozuna, Albies and Harris were ranked in the bottom 10.

Before Wednesday, third baseman Austin Riley wasn't far ahead of those four hitters in OPS either. MLB.com's Mark Bowman tweeted the specific OPS numbers Wednesday morning.

There are 183 qualified MLB players going back to June 1. Here is where the Braves rank

180. Harris .451
175. Albies .527
174. Ozuna .539
162. Allen .608.
125. Riley .699
22. Olson .935
8. Acuna 1.044

Three of the bottom 10 , four of the bottom 20 and two of the top 25
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) July 2, 2025

Injuries and surprising regression from younger players explain the Braves struggles at the plate. However, a deeper look indicates a potential organizational issue.

Braves farm system expert Matt Chrietzberg tweeted the slash lines of all Atlanta's minor league teams Tuesday, and none of them look particularly good. Actually, in most cases, they are downright bad.

The Atlanta Braves have had a rough hitting season as they are hitting .243/.318/.379 as a team.

But check out their farm teams:

Gwinnett: .228/.308/.343
Columbus: .207/.298/.309
Rome: .215/.305/.310
Augusta: .220/.329/.314
— Matt Chrietzberg (@BravesMattC) July 2, 2025

On one hand, these statistics aren't super surprising. Eight of Atlanta's top 10 minor league prospects, according to MLB.com, are pitchers. The Braves have selected a pitcher in the first round of the MLB amateur draft six consecutive years.

Simply put, the Braves haven't made the proper offensive investments to be good at hitting at the minor league level.

In all likelihood, a big reason why the Braves haven't made adding hitters a bigger emphasis in the draft recently is because of the expectation the team had an MLB lineup capable of producing elite numbers for several years.

But with a second consecutive down offensive season in 2025, it might be time for the Braves to change their organizational strategy and add more offensive talent to the team's farm system.

This article first appeared on Atlanta Braves on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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