As the Braves weather their offensive storm, this silver lining has emerged for them

The Atlanta Braves are going through it right now offensively. When the offense is firing on all cylinders, no team in baseball can realistically match their firepower. But when the bats grow cold, you see the type of baseball being played of late. It may be a tougher part of their schedule, but Atlanta is on the verge of being swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers, only winning once vs. the Seattle Mariners.

While guys like Matt Olson and Austin Riley have received the bulk of Braves Country’s backlash over the bats being bad, we can no longer point the finger at last year’s NL MVP, Ronald Acuña Jr. Over the last three games, Acuña is hitting .500 (7-for-14) and has raised his batting average some 30 points. Entering play on Sunday, he is hitting .274 on the year. Another good series could put him over .300.

Even though Riley and manager Brian Snitker said the offense will be fine at some point, some legions of Braves Country don’t want to hear that. They don’t care that it is Cinco de Mayo across this great country of ours. The Braves just got stuffed into a locker by the Dodgers on Saturday night. This team has not played with a crashing sense of urgency sense honestly, last September. That has to change.

The best way for Atlanta to get back to being Atlanta is for Acuña to serve as the ultimate table setter.

Ronald Acuña Jr. seems to have turned the corner after a slow first month

The Braves have faced three division leaders in a row. Yes, the Dodgers are dominant, the Mariners are menacing and the Cleveland Guardians are great. However, so are the Braves. They need to get back to being the Braves because nobody is going to take them seriously in the postseason if they don’t play with a greater sense of urgency come October. They have to find that special something.

While I would agree that they are in an advantageous position when it comes to upgrading the pitching staff at the MLB trade deadline, the offense needs to click for this team to work. It was always supposed to be the one constant that got this team over the top and into the stratosphere. We have to remember that Atlanta did not catch fire last season until right around Memorial Day…

I think the best thing we can do right now is try not to panic, take our lumps and regroup vs. lesser opponents than the Guardians, Mariners and Dodgers in the coming weeks. Baseball is all about the long game, but you do have to recognize when problems are reoccurring, or if they are merely circumstantial. All the while, Atlanta is only able to be at its best if Acuña is the one leading the way.

If hitting is contagious, we can only hope Acuña’s hot bat trickles down to the rest of the lineup.

This article was originally published on fansided.com as As the Braves weather their offensive storm, this silver lining has emerged for them.