The Atlanta Braves were officially eliminated from postseason contention on Friday night when the New York Mets clinched a wild-card spot, ending Atlanta’s run of seven consecutive postseason appearances in a season that began with the best 69-game start in baseball.
The Braves finish 76-86, missing the postseason for the first time in a full season since 2017.
How it ended
The Mets’ win over the Texas Rangers on Friday night, combined with the Braves’ own loss to the Washington Nationals earlier in the evening, locked Atlanta out of the National League wild-card race with more than a week to play.
The elimination was the formal punctuation on a collapse that had become mathematically certain weeks earlier. Atlanta had not been in playoff position since early August.
A tale of two seasons
On June 11, the Braves were 45-24, the best record in baseball, up 5½ games in the National League East, and on pace for more than 100 wins. They had the best run differential in the league, the best road record in the National League, and an ace — Chris Sale — on his way to a likely Cy Young.
What followed was an unraveling that took less than three months to complete.
From June 12 through Friday’s elimination, Atlanta played roughly .340 ball, dropping out of first place in mid-July and out of the wild-card race by Labor Day. The collapse came on three fronts at once: the rotation fell apart, the lineup lost its power stroke, and the defense quietly ranked among the worst in the league on a per-inning basis.
What went wrong
The simplest explanation is also the truest: the Braves’ rotation, the deepest in baseball in April, ran out of healthy arms by July.
Chris Sale pitched through a shoulder issue for two months before landing on the injured list in early August. Reynaldo López never returned to his first-half form after a minor elbow issue. Spencer Schwellenbach, the rookie who had emerged as Atlanta’s most reliable starter through the first three months, suffered a fractured right elbow in late June that cost him the final three months of the season. The bullpen, built around a short three-man late-inning structure, simply could not absorb the innings load.
The offense did not help. Matt Olson finished with 26 home runs but batted .224 in the second half. Austin Riley never found his swing after returning from a wrist injury. Michael Harris II spent more than two months in a deep slump. And Marcell Ozuna, the team’s most consistent hitter in the first half, hit below .200 after the All-Star break.
What the front office is saying
The Braves’ front office, in a written statement issued Friday night, called the second-half collapse “unacceptable” but said manager Brian Snitker would return for 2026. The team also said it would not commit to a full teardown of the roster, despite the record.
“We are not going to make panicked decisions in October about a team that was 21 games over .500 in early June.”
— Atlanta Braves, written statement
What’s next for the offseason
Atlanta’s biggest offseason question is whether to extend or trade several core players who are entering the final year of their contracts. Marcell Ozuna, Travis d’Arnaud, and Jesse Chavez are all free agents after the season. Matt Olson is signed through 2029 but has limited no-trade protection.
The Braves are also widely expected to be aggressive in the free-agent starting-pitching market this winter, with multiple reports connecting the team to high-profile veteran arms.
“We’re going to have a real offseason. We’re not going to pretend this didn’t happen, and we’re not going to pretend it’s the end of the run.”
— Alex Anthopoulos, Braves general manager, in a statement
The big-picture takeaway
The 2025 Braves will be remembered as one of the strangest teams in franchise history: a 45-24 juggernaut that finished 76-86 and missed the playoffs entirely, with very little in between.
Whether the second half is the start of a longer decline — or, as the front office insists, an aberration driven by injuries — is the question that will define the team’s offseason.
Jordan Reyes covers the Braves, Falcons, Hawks, and Atlanta United for WACN 21. Reach him at jreyes@wacn21.com.
