Coming off a 94-win regular season and National League East title under first-year manager Walt Weiss, the Braves came up short in the playoffs with Wednesday's NLDS Game 4 loss to the Dodgers and were eliminated from the postseason. Since winning the World Series in 2021, the Braves have won just one postseason series, this year's Wild Card Series, and gone 5-12 in the playoffs. On one level, the 2026 season was something of a success, as they bounced back from their disappointing and injury-marred 2025 campaign, the last under longtime manager Brian Snitker.
Under Weiss and buoyed by better health, the Braves added a hefty 18 regular-season wins to their 2025 tally. The postseason outcome, though, meant that all that work led up to a sour ending. The Braves remain in contending mode with several core contributors still under contract and an ownership group still presumably willing to spend toward the goal of winning baseball games.
Obviously, the uncertainty surrounding the 2027 season and how it will look amid the ongoing CBA negotiations complicates matters, but the solid expectation is that the Braves will again go for it next season. With all that in mind, let's take a look at three key questions facing the NL East champs as their offseason gets underway. The Braves, under lead decision-maker Alex Anthopoulos, have been aggressive in signing in-house or newly acquired talents to long-term contract extensions.
This has provided stability and a reliable core, all in the name of contention. At the same time, though, cracks may be starting to show within some of those key players. Of particular concern is third baseman Austin Riley, his clutch homer in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series notwithstanding.
From 2021 to 2023, Riley, in his age-24 through age-26 campaigns. notched three top 10 finishes in the NL MVP vote in as many years. Since then, however, he's endured a steady pattern of decline. His OPS+ during that peak stretch above was 135, which means his park-adjusted OPS was 35% better than the league average.
In 2024, his OPS+ dropped to 115. In 2025, it was 105, and this past season it cratered to 80, or 20% worse than the league average. If you look at his underlying batted-ball metrics, you'll find that he wasn't all that lucky in 2026.
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