Atlanta’s season ended Wednesday night with a 4-1 loss to the Dodgers in Game 4 of the NLDS, and one number explains all of it: 1-for-23. That is what the Braves hit with runners in scoring position across four games. It is the second-worst mark in the history of postseason series, behind only the 1966 World Series Dodgers, who went 0-for-22.
Atlanta left 28 runners on base in the series. In Game 4 alone the Braves went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven. Tyler Glasnow walked five of them and gave up nothing. The only Atlanta run came in the first inning, and the fans in Truist Park were booing by the eighth.
The Middle of the Order Vanished
Matt Olson, Ronald Acuna Jr., Drake Baldwin and Austin Riley combined to go 5-for-58 in the series. That works out to roughly .086 from four hitters who are supposed to be the reason this team is dangerous. Michael Harris II was the only Atlanta bat that looked like itself.
The Braves scored eight runs in four games and two runs over the final 18 innings. The pitching was fine. Atlanta’s team ERA for the series was 3.50 and the Dodgers scored 14 runs total. Some of it was bad luck: Ozzie Albies hit a sixth-inning double Wednesday that would have been a home run in 29 of 30 parks, and Mauricio Dubon lined out with a .620 expected batting average. Most of it was not luck. One hit in 23 tries is a thing a team does, not a thing that happens to a team.
Walt Weiss did not hide behind variance. “You tip your cap to Pages, man,” he said of Andy Pages, whose two-run single in the seventh decided the game, noting that Pages “hit a 100 mph heater back through the middle.” On Los Angeles: “They’re going for their 3rd straight championship for a reason, the arms keep coming at you.”
The Winter Is About Shortstop and the Bullpen
Atlanta’s 2026 luxury tax payroll was just over $250 million, eighth in baseball. Projected commitments for 2027 fall to roughly $163 million, which is the one encouraging fact in this story. Chris Sale is extended at $27 million for next season. Ozzie Albies has a $7 million club option that Atlanta will obviously pick up. Reynaldo Lopez ($10 million) and Tyler Kinley ($4.25 million) carry club options too.
Shortstop is wide open. Ha-Seong Kim was on a one-year deal and Dubon is only under contract through 2026, and the free agent class at the position is thin. The bullpen loses Raisel Iglesias, Aaron Bummer, Martin Perez and Joe Jimenez to free agency, and Robert Suarez is a question after making just five appearances since June because of elbow discomfort.
The easy call is Tyler Mahle. He posted a 1.99 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP in nine regular season starts after arriving from San Francisco, gave up one run in seven innings in the Wild Card round against Philadelphia, and was cruising on 85 pitches Wednesday when Weiss pulled him in the seventh. Asked about returning as a free agent, Mahle said, “For sure. It’d be crazy for anyone not to want to be here. This place is awesome, and there’s no other way to put it.”
Sign him and move on to the real work. Atlanta has run into the Dodgers in six postseason series in this era and lost four of them, and the reason is no longer pitching. This roster is good enough to keep reaching the Division Series. It is not good enough to get a base hit with a man on second.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.