If you declared the Atlanta Braves the best team in baseball as we reach the middle of June, you wouldn’t find many who could argue with that. The Braves, who are 45-23 with an eight-game lead in the NL East entering play Friday, have been the most consistent team in the sport so far in 2026. For most of this season, Atlanta has held either the best record in all of MLB or the best record in the National League.
With dominant pitching and a robust offense, the Braves’ success in 2026 has resembled what we’ve come to expect from their talented roster over the past several seasons. But last year, due to a combination of injury and underperformance from some of the homegrown stars, Atlanta missed the postseason for the first time in eight seasons.
So far this year, despite injuries to key contributors such as Spencer Strider, Drake Baldwin, Sean Murphy, Spencer Schwellenbach, Hurston Waldrep and now Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta has thrived and put significant distance between itself and the second-place Philadelphia Phillies — who, without their surge in May, could’ve been behind in the division by double digits by now.
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Resilience has become a marker of the Braves teams over the past several seasons. And it appears that even with their success early in 2026, they’ll have to tap into that again this summer, as superstar outfielder Acuña is on the injured list for the second straight month due to a left hamstring strain. The 28-year-old supernova injured the hamstring while running to first base on Tuesday against the White Sox and immediately exited the game. He injured the same hamstring a month ago in similar fashion.
“It’s a Grade 1,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said this week. “So it’s not terrible, but enough that we had to IL him. We could be waiting around for a while if we were playing shorthanded and we were waiting for this thing to heal. So [we] went ahead and put him on the IL. I don’t think it’s as severe as the last one, but still gonna need some time.”
Even if it’s not severe, the hamstring strain comes as a huge blow for Acuña, who was really starting to heat up at the plate. Over his past 11 games, the former NL MVP recorded a .316/.458/.737 slash line with five homers and seven stolen bases. So while the Braves believe they dodged a bullet with the Grade 1 strain, another injury to the team’s best player is undeniably bad news and something their offense will have to overcome.
“It’s frustrating [for Acuña],” Weiss said. “It’s frustrating for any athlete that gets injured, you know. It’s all part of it. Unfortunately, Ronald’s had to deal with it, you know, more than his fair share. But I think it’s very important that we get over this — not that there was any lingering effects from the first one. He was 100 percent obviously, running around like he was, but he’s got to make sure he gets through this and back on the field and helping us win games.”
Can the Braves keep pace as the National League’s best team without Ronald Acuña Jr.?
(Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports)
Beyond Acuña, the production in Atlanta’s lineup has come from two main sources: first baseman Matt Olson, who leads the team in hits and home runs, and center fielder Michael Harris II, who has returned to the form that made him the NL Rookie of the Year in 2022. But the level at which Atlanta has been playing requires production from more than just the stars.
Case in point: Designated hitter Dominic Smith has provided unexpected impact so far this season, hitting .291 with six homers in 55 games. And lately, veteran utilityman Mauricio Dubón has provided a spark, batting .360 with a 1.189 OPS and three homers in his past seven games. If the Braves are going to keep pace as one of MLB’s top teams even without Acuña, Smith and Dubón will have to keep it up.
Blue Jays right-hander Max Scherzer is 41 years old, but if there’s one thing he still knows how to do, it’s strike hitters out. Scherzer joined rarified air on Wednesday against the Phillies, becoming just the 11th pitcher in MLB history to record 3,500 career strikeouts. The Blue Jays’ right-hander fooled Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber, striking him out looking on a changeup to reach the historic mark.
Scherzer is the first MLB hurler to surpass 3,500 strikeouts since Detroit Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander reached the milestone in 2025. Scherzer, who will be 42 next month, is currently 11th on the all-time MLB strikeout list. He’s just 12 strikeouts away from passing Hall of Famer Walter Johnson and 31 away from passing Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry for ninth all time.
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