LOS ANGELES -- Less than a full week into the season, the Braves have lost their key offseason acquisition to an 80-game suspension and placed one of their top starting pitchers on the injured list for the third time since August. The veteran reliever used to protect a one-run lead on Opening Day has already been designated for assignment.
Other than that, things are going great for the Braves, who went 29 straight innings without scoring before Michael Harris II homered in the eighth inning of a 6-1 loss to the Dodgers on Monday night at Dodger Stadium. Harris¡¯ first homer of the year was far from enough to prevent Atlanta from beginning a season 0-5 for just the eighth time in franchise history and first time since 2016, the year current Braves manager Brian Snitker replaced Fredi Gonzalez after the team¡¯s 9-28 start.
¡°Basically, we just got to move forward,¡± Harris said. ¡°We¡¯ve got to worry about the guys that we have and try to win games.¡±
Harris¡¯ opposite-field homer served as the only offensive highlight on a day when the Braves were silenced by a dominant Tyler Glasnow, who had eight strikeouts over five scoreless innings. Atlanta chased Michael King and Dylan Cease before the end of the fifth in the season¡¯s first two games. But Randy V¨¢squez, Nick Pivetta and Glasnow have had relatively easy starts the past three days.
Per Elias, the Braves¡¯ 29-inning scoreless drought was their longest since going scoreless over 31 innings from June 18-23, 2007. That drought ended with Chipper Jones¡¯ solo homer off a young Justin Verlander in a Braves 2-1 loss to the Tigers. The longest drought during the franchise¡¯s Atlanta era (since 1966) was 37 innings, from May 8-13, 1985.
Braves manager Brian Snitker is experiencing his 49th season in professional baseball, all of which have been spent in the Braves¡¯ organization as a player, coach or manager. So, he¡¯s had plenty of rough days. But it¡¯s hard to believe he has endured many that were more taxing than Monday.
¡°You have to put it behind you and you have to look for positives in anything,¡± Snitker said. ¡°You can always find something bad at a baseball game. If you look for positives in order to keep going, [you can] understand tomorrow is a new day and could be the start of a really good streak.¡±
It seemed like it might be a feel-good day when it was announced fan favorite Jesse Chavez would join the Braves¡¯ bullpen for the series opener against the Dodgers. But Snitker¡¯s happiness to welcome the 41-year-old reliever back was tempered by the fact he knew Reynaldo L¨®pez was headed to the IL with right shoulder inflammation.
What he didn¡¯t immediately know was that Jurickson Profar was going to be suspended 80 games for using a performance-enhancing drug that violates MLB¡¯s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. That announcement was made at approximately 3 p.m. PT. The decision to recall Bryce Elder to replace L¨®pez on the active roster had already been made. But instead of delivering their fan base consecutive gut punches, the team opted to wait 45 more minutes to make that announcement.
Profar¡¯s suspension will run through the end of June. When he returns, he will need to prove he is capable of performing like the Braves envisioned when they signed him to a three-year, $42 million deal in January.
It¡¯s currently unknown when L¨®pez will return and whether he¡¯ll ever recapture the magic that allowed him to earn an All-Star selection after making the transition from reliever to starter last year. He¡¯s dealing with inflammation in his right shoulder, the same type of injury that landed him on the injured list in August and September.
The Braves don¡¯t know the severity of L¨®pez¡¯s ailment. But the prolonged shoulder issues indicate he may need more than just a couple weeks of rest. His absence will fuel the critics who have said the team needed to add starting pitching depth in the offseason. Others have been critical of the team for not addressing the bullpen this winter. Those voices got louder on Opening Day, when a one-run seventh-inning lead was squandered by H¨¦ctor Neris, who has already been DFA¡¯d.
Dealing with the absences of L¨®pez and Profar will extend far beyond this rough first week. But the morale hasn¡¯t been completely shattered in what is still a talented and experienced clubhouse.
¡°We¡¯re a good club, a really good club,¡± Braves third baseman Austin Riley said. ¡°We know that and we¡¯re going to go out there and do our thing.¡±