Holmes notches 27 whiffs and 10 K's, but Braves' bats can't back him

ATLANTA -- Grant Holmes has notched the only two double-digit strikeout totals of his 11-year professional career within the past few weeks. But his sudden ability to miss bats more consistently has gone to waste as the anemic Braves offense continues to slumber.

Holmes recorded 10 strikeouts and got 27 swings and misses, MLB’s third-highest total of the season, while throwing six scoreless innings in a 4-0 loss to the Angels on Tuesday night at Truist Park. His effort went unrewarded as Ronald Acuña Jr. struck out four times for just the second time in his career as the Braves were shut out for the seventh time this year -- and third time within their past five games.

“We come to the field and expect to hit well and pitch well,” Holmes said. “It’s just the life of baseball. It can be so rewarding and suck at the same time.”

Losers of four of their final five June games, the Braves didn’t get any instant July reprieve. The month started with them transferring Chris Sale to the 60-day injured list, a move that confirmed he won’t return before Aug. 19. Sale’s absence could certainly be felt again on Wednesday, when the Braves again roll the dice with 20-year-old Didier Fuentes, who has struggled in his first two MLB starts.

But the rotation has remained a strength as Spencer Schwellenbach, Spencer Strider and Holmes have all pitched at a high level since Sale suffered a fractured left rib on June 18.

• Strider has posted a 3.00 ERA over three starts. The Braves have won two of those three games.
• Schwellenbach has posted a 1.93 ERA in two starts. The Braves have won both of those games.
• Holmes has posted a 1.08 ERA in three starts. The Braves have gone 1-2 in those games.

“It’s tough, we’re talking about this way too much,” an understandably frustrated Braves manager Brian Snitker said of the frequency his team’s offensive struggles have negatively impacted Holmes.

Holmes’ mettle was tested regularly as he spent 10 years in the Minors before finally making his MLB debut last year. His first double-digit strikeout game since occurred on June 15, when he notched 15 strikeouts in a 10-1 loss to the Rockies.

So, it wasn’t like he experienced unfamiliar disappointment on Tuesday, when his second double-digit strikeout game in 17 days went unrewarded. The Angels whiffed with 16 of 25 swings against his slider and with five of seven swings against his curveball.

The 27 swings and misses Holmes totaled against the Angels are the most recorded by any Braves not named Spencer Strider going back to 2008. Strider had 32, 31 and 31 whiffs during three separate starts in 2023.

Holmes also had 25 whiffs against the Rockies in that start a few weeks ago. He and Strider are the only Braves to get 25-plus whiffs multiple times since 2008.

The only MLB pitchers with more swings and misses in a game this year are the Tigers’ Tarik Skubal (32 vs. Rangers on May 9) and Mackenzie Gore (28 vs. Rockies on April 19). Skubal and Holmes are the only pitchers who have induced 25-plus whiffs multiple times this year.

“I don't ever expect to go out there and get that many swing-and-misses,” Holmes said. “But, I do feel like my stuff is good enough to get that. But to say I think that I could go out there and get it quite often would be kind of dumb, as they say.”

Likewise, it might be unwise to assume the Braves’ offense is suddenly going to break out of what has essentially been a three-month funk. Acuña has been one of the game’s top producers over the past month, but he started this series by striking out four times for the first time since a Sept. 13, 2020 win against the Nationals.

Michael Harris II, who ranks last among qualified MLB players with a .559 OPS, tripled off Tyler Anderson to begin the fifth inning. But Nick Allen and Acuña notched consecutive strikeouts before Marcell Ozuna was unable to take advantage of the threat with a flyout to left field.

Much has been made about the season-long struggles of Harris and Ozzie Albies, who ranks 150th among 157 qualified players with a .619 OPS. But Ozuna’s decline has been equally destructive to Atlanta’s offense. His .530 OPS since June 1 ranks 178th out of 189 qualified players during that stretch.

“We’re scrambling the lineup, and I feel like we’re trying to do different things,” Snitker said. “It’s just not working.”