Ha-Seong Kim's 0-for-24 Skid Is Real and Braves Fans Should Be Losing Their Minds
Alright, Emerald City, listen up. You think you've seen a hitting slump? Try this on for size: Braves infielder Ha-Seong Kim is currently riding an 0-for-24 skid, batting a dismal .068. Seriously. It's so bad, Braves fans have to be wondering what in the heck is going on down in Atlanta. Both the Braves and the Cardinals have been absolutely reeling, struggling hard to put their disappointing June behind them as they square off in a three-game series starting Tuesday.
Atlanta's Nightmare June
Can you believe it? The Atlanta Braves, who had a commanding 10.5-game lead in the National League East back on May 22, have seen that cushion shrink to a mere three games over the Philadelphia Phillies. Talk about a freefall! The squad is sitting at 9-13 for June, and they’ve been an abysmal 3-7 over their last ten games. It's not just Kim either. Their entire offense is in a total funk, going 4-12 in their current skid, getting shut out twice, and scoring three or fewer runs a shocking ten times.
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We all know the pain of watching our bats go cold, right? But for the Braves, it’s been brutal. Austin Riley's average is a dismal .209 after going 4-for-21 on their recent West Coast road trip, and he hasn't even homered since May 20. Ouch. Drake Baldwin popped a homer in his first at-bat off the injured list, but he’s been 2-for-43 since, dropping his average from .303 to .255. Braves manager Walt Weiss is trying to keep it together, saying, "Our sport is different than every other sport. We play virtually every day for seven months, so you've got to get past all that stuff. You've got to keep your head down and keep doing the work. These guys are doing the work, they're doing all that stuff. We've just got to fight through it." Sounds like a coach trying to rally the troops when nothing is working.
Cardinals' Own Offensive Woes
Not to be outdone in the struggle department, the St. Louis Cardinals have their own hitting problems. They’re 12-12 in June and also sitting at 3-7 in their last ten. They were 4.5 games behind the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers on May 31, and now they're a full seven games back. Plus, they’re just half a game ahead of the San Diego Padres and Miami Marlins in the hunt for that final wild-card spot. Talk about pressure! The Redbirds scored only three runs in their entire three-game weekend series against Miami. Yikes!
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol summed it up: "You look at the games, we're successful, we come up with that key hit, that big hit and kind of keep it rolling. We haven't been able to do that recently and that's a big part of how we've gotten to this point." Some guys are fighting, though. Ivan Herrera and Alec Burleson both saw their on-base streaks end recently, but rookie second baseman JJ Wetherholt has been a bright spot with back-to-back multi-hit games, giving him 23 on the season.
Pitching Matchup: Who Can Step Up?
Tuesday’s opener throws us a pair of lefties, with St. Louis sending Matthew Liberatore to the mound against Atlanta’s Martin Perez. Liberatore has been having a rough June, going 0-2 with a brutal 10.34 ERA over his last four starts. He got absolutely shelled by Arizona last Wednesday, giving up six runs in 5 1/3 innings. On the other side, Perez has been a steady hand for the Braves, especially with number two starter Spencer Strider sidelined. Since rejoining the rotation in mid-May, Perez is 4-2, though his four-game winning streak did end last Wednesday when he gave up three runs in his shortest start of the season.
This series, the first meeting between these two teams this season, is massive. Both sides are desperate to turn the page on a truly brutal June. Will someone finally find that key hit, or will these offensive funks continue to plague them? Get ready, baseball fans, because this one could be wild.
This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.