What a difference a year makes — a Braves stat that will blow your mind

The Braves have done a complete 180 from their 2025 performance, and it starts with the resurgence of their star players.

Last year was a down year across the board. Ozzie Albies, Michael Harris II, and Austin Riley all turned in career-worst campaigns. Ronald Acuña Jr. missed a significant amount of time recovering from a torn ACL. Matt Olson wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t his best stretch as a Brave either. Not much went right for Atlanta’s core — with one notable exception in Drake Baldwin, who took home the Rookie of the Year award.

Baldwin has built on that tremendous debut and established himself as the best catcher in the National League. The bigger difference this season, however, has been the performance of the players around him — particularly Albies and Harris.

In just 62 games, Albies has already matched his WAR total from all of last season at 2.3. He’s on pace for close to 30 home runs while maintaining an .800 OPS. This is who he has been his entire career, but there were legitimate concerns after a string of wrist and hand injuries appeared to leave some lingering effects.

Harris was also a question mark entering the season. Nobody has ever doubted the talent, but there had been a steady offensive decline since his Rookie of the Year campaign, bottoming out with a .678 OPS last year. An adjustment to his stance in the second half of 2025 produced better results, and that momentum has carried over — he’s now hitting .300 with 13 home runs and an .850 OPS while making a strong case for his first All-Star appearance.

The other massive offensive difference has been what I like to call “the other guys.” Over the years, Anthopoulos has been exceptional at finding hidden gems, but the last couple of seasons produced mostly flops in that department — guys like Jarred Kelenic and Alex Verdugo making minimal impact.

That hasn’t been the case in 2026. Dominic Smith has been a menace against right-handed pitching after signing a minor-league deal in the offseason, and Mauricio Dubon has saved the team on more than a handful of occasions.

The pitching staff has also made a remarkable leap despite dealing with a revolving door of injuries. Bryce Elder has completely turned his career around, while Martin Perez, Spencer Strider, and Grant Holmes have all held their own behind Chris Sale.

But the real difference has been the bullpen. A glaring weak spot a year ago has become one of the team’s biggest strengths, led by the three-headed monster of Dylan Lee, Robert Suarez, and Raisel Iglesias. Rookie Didier Fuentes has also made a major impact, giving Walt Weiss a weapon who can go multiple innings and handle high-leverage situations when needed.

Just about everything is clicking for the Braves in 2026 — a stark contrast from a year ago. And this stat from 680 The Fan’s Barrett Sallee illustrates it perfectly.

Atlanta is now 42-20 through the first two games of June. The Braves didn’t record their 42nd win last season until two days before the All-Star break.

The Braves are 42-20. It's June 3

The Braves didn't get their 42nd win until July 12 last year – two days before the All-Star break.

— Barrett Sallee (@BarrettSallee) June 4, 2026

Most expected the Braves to bounce back after just 76 wins a year ago. They have to much talent and pedigree to stay down for multiple seasons; however, nobody had this team on pace to win 110 games, which would be a franchise record.

Everybody deserves a bit of credit, including first-year manager Walt Weiss, who is building a strong case for the Manager of the Year award.

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(Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire)