The Braves find themselves amid a lengthy offensive slump. Nobody other than Marcell Ozuna has found consistent success at the plate, but thanks to some of the best pitching in baseball, Atlanta owns a 31-21 record.
Add in the Ronald Acuña Jr. injury and the light at the end of the tunnel seems miles away. In reality, there’s more than enough talent in this lineup to go on a tear. The Braves have elite to above-average hitters at first base, second base, third base, catcher, center field, and designated hitter.
That’s enough firepower to turn into one of the best offenses in baseball again, but the Braves are still expected to add to the outfield at the trade deadline, and a reunion with an old friend could be in the cards.Â
World Series MVP Jorge Soler signed a three-year, $42 million deal with the Giants in the offseason, and he’s off to a horrid start, even making one of Bleacher Report’s worst contracts of the 2024 season.
“At this time last year, Soler had a .910 OPS and 17 home runs, trailing only Pete Alonso’s 20 for the most in the majors,” writes Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report. “He eventually cooled off and ended up missing 25 games, but he finished with 36 homers as Miami’s best source of dingers, by far.
However, San Francisco has thus far gotten the much less productive version of this historically streaky slugger.”
With San Francisco, Soler is slashing .215/.302/.383 with just six home runs and 15 RBIs. He had a ton of success as the Braves leadoff hitter in 2021 after being traded by the Royals, but he’s had no success with the Giants regardless of where he’s at in the lineup.
“The Giants have bounced Soler all over the lineup, trying to find anything that works. When he came back from a brief stint on the IL earlier this month, they even put him in the leadoff spot—A.K.A. the Kyle Schwarber experiment—for a few games before dropping him back down into the middle of the order.”
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