Atlanta Braves Made a Big Mistake at MLB Trade Deadline

The Atlanta Braves lost their third straight game on Wednesday to the Tampa Bay Rays. For the second consecutive game they were knocked out of the contest early as Tampa jumped on their starter. In Game 1 of the series, right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver gave up four runs in 3 1/3 innings.

On Wednesday, right-hander Reynaldo Lopez, making his first start in over a month, was shelled for seven hits and six earned runs, resulting in another loss and extending a concerning stretch for this rotation.

With Atlanta's starters struggling and being the primary reason the team has fallen to the third seed in the National League, it is becoming increasingly apparent the organization made a significant mistake at this year's trade deadline. They simply did not add enough starting pitching depth.

While Atlanta did acquire Tyler Mahle, who has been excellent and will likely slot in as the No. 2 starter behind ace Chris Sale in October, the depth behind those two is an ugly picture that is now being exposed at the worst possible time.

The Braves are likely going to need four reliable arms to carry them through a postseason run, and with three weeks left in the regular season they barely have two.

Part of the problem has been injury luck. Right-hander Bryce Elder was the latest blow, landing on the 15-day injured list with a knee issue. Spencer Strider is unlikely to return this year, and both Hurston Waldrep and Spencer Schwellenbach are done for the season after undergoing right arm surgeries. The depth that looked serviceable heading into the second half has been stripped away one injury at a time.

The bigger problem though has been underperformance from the arms that are healthy and available. Lopez struggled badly in his first start back. Smith-Shawver has been nearly unplayable as a rotation option this season. That leaves Grant Holmes and Martin Perez as the projected Game 3 and Game 4 starters in a postseason series, which would put Atlanta at a significant disadvantage given the caliber of lineups they would face in October.

Atlanta's offense has also been inconsistent over the past month and is capable of underperforming, especially if the Braves end up in the wild card round, which currently appears to be the most likely postseason path.

Anything can happen and the Braves could certainly still go on a run, but president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos being conservative with prospects at the deadline has come back to bite this team at the worst possible time.