The 2017 Atlanta Braves season was the Braves' 52nd season in Atlanta and 147th overall. This was the Braves' first season at SunTrust Park, after playing the previous 20 seasons at Turner Field. The Braves began the season on April 3 at Citi Field against the New York Mets and finished the season on October 1 against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. The Braves improve on their 68–93 record from 2016. On September 22, 2017, the Braves were eliminated from postseason play. They finished the season 72–90 to finish in third place in the National League East, 25 games behind the Washington Nationals. They failed to make the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.
This was the last time the Braves missed the playoffs and finished with a losing record until the 2025 season.
Offseason
October The Braves made a number of changes during the offseason, starting with releasing Roger McDowell, who served as pitching coach for 11 seasons, on October 7, 2016. Four days later, Brian Snitker, who took over as interim manager for Fredi Gonzalez on May 17, 2016 and the team finished the season with a 59–65 record, including winning 20 of its last 30 games, was named as the new manager of the Atlanta Braves.
November On November 10, the Braves signed a two–year, $8 million deal with veteran pitcher and 2012 National League Cy Young Award winner R. A. Dickey. The next day, they signed a one–year, $12.5 million deal with veteran pitcher Bartolo Colón. On November 28, the Braves acquired outfield prospect Alex Jackson and a player to be named at a later date in a trade with the Mariners. In exchange, the Braves sent pitcher Rob Whalen, who went 1–2 with a 6.57 ERA in five starts, and Max Povse to the Mariners.
December The Braves continued their offseason realignment of their starting rotation in a December 1 trade acquisition of Jaime García, sending John Gant, who went 1–4 with a 5.76 ERA in 20 games (including seven starts), and two minor league prospects to the Cardinals. The next day, they signed one–year deals with catcher Anthony Recker and relief pitcher Paco Rodriguez, while releasing reliever Chris Withrow. On December 4, the team signed a one–year deal with pitching prospect Jacob Lindgren.
January On January 11, the Braves traded Shae Simmons and Mallex Smith to the Mariners in exchange for two left-handed pitching prospects. On January 30, the Braves signed a one–year, $1.5 million contract with veteran catcher Kurt Suzuki.
February On February 12, the Braves acquired Brandon Phillips in a trade that sent left-handed pitcher Andrew McKirahan and minor league right-hander Carlos Portuondo to the Reds.
Spring training The Braves recorded a 9–22 win–loss record in pre-season spring training, excluding two tie games that did not count toward the standings. Their .290 winning percentage was the worst among MLB teams in pre-season.
Regular season
Season standings
National League East
National League Wild Card
Record vs. opponents
Season summary
April Opening Day for the Braves on April 3 started with Julio Teherán pitching six scoreless innings, only surrendering four hits, but ended with the New York Mets scoring six runs in a five-walk seventh inning against the relievers of Ian Krol, Chaz Roe and Eric O'Flaherty and the Braves lost 6-0 to the Mets. In the second game of the series two nights later, Matt Kemp hit a go-ahead two-run double in the 12th inning to lift the Braves to a 3-1 victory over the Mets. In the final game of the series, Matt Kemp's two home runs couldn't lift the Braves past Travis d'Arnaud's two-run double and a two-run homer by Wilmer Flores in a 6-2 loss to the Mets.
The Braves made a late rally with three runs in the eighth, two off a hit single to center field by Brandon Phillips, but fell one run short in a 5-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 7. R. A. Dickey's debut with the Braves the following night, which included a two-run single to shallow right, was marred by two errors and surrendering six runs, three earned, in a 6-4 loss. In the final game of the series, the Braves pulled to a two-run lead, surrendered two unearned runs in the fourth inning, pulled ahead to a 4-2 lead with homers by Freddie Freeman in the fifth and seventh and allowed a third unearned run in the eighth. In the ninth, Jim Johnson loaded the bases for Francisco Cervelli, who hit a groundball to left side of infield and allowed Gregory Polanco to score the tying run. The Braves retook the lead with an RBI groundout by Tyler Flowers in the top of the 10th, but Starling Marte completed the sweep of the Braves with a two-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the inning to hand the Braves a 6-5 loss.
Bartolo Colón put the Braves in a six-run hole after three innings and only put up four runs in an 8-4 loss to the Miami Marlins on April 11. The next night, Ender Inciarte of the Braves and Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins matched each other for home runs, with two, but it was Flowers who hit the winning go-ahead homer to snap the Braves five-game losing skid and defeat the Marlins 5-4.
Inciarte recorded the first hit and home run to highlight a 5-2 Braves victory over the San Diego Padres in the first official game at SunTrust Park on April 14. The next night, back-to-back homers from Phillips and Adonis García in the sixth led the Braves to a 4-2 victory over the Padres. In the third game of the series, the Braves opened the flood gates with a nine-run performance, including a solo homer from Inciarte, to defeat the Padres 9-2 and win their first series of the season. The final game of the series turned into a home run derby with two from Freeman, solo and two-run, a pinch-hit homer from Allen Córdoba and a two-run homer in the eighth inning by Austin Hedges, but it was Dansby Swanson's left field single in the ninth that scored the walk-off RBI to give the Braves a 5-4 victory over the Padres.
Entering the bottom of the ninth inning trailing three runs, Washington Nationals closer Blake Treinen loaded up the bases and allowed one run to score on a walk, but struck out Chase d'Arnaud to hand the Braves their first loss at SunTrust Park on April 18. A solo homer by Freeman was the highlight of the Braves's performance that included two grand slams surrendered to Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman in a 14-4 loss in the second game of the series against the Nationals. In the final game of the series, Zimmerman hit a two-run homer and Stephen Strasburg struck out 10 to complete the sweep in a 3-2 Nationals victory over the Braves.
Freeman hit his seventh homer on the season in the first of a three-game road series on April 21, but that wasn't enough to overcome Jeremy Hellickson holding the Braves to three hits over seven innings in a 4-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. Phillips's homer in the ninth tied the second game of the series and a throwing error by Tommy Joseph of the Phillies allowed Swanson to score an unearned run, but Johnson couldn't secure the game for the Braves, thanks to Swanson unable to get the ball out of his glove to secure a game-ending double play, and Maikel Franco hit a walk-off two-run single to deep right to hand the Braves their fifth straight loss. Kemp's solo home run in the seventh was the best the Braves could do against Aaron Altherr, César Hernández and Odubel Herrera hitting consecutive homers in the eighth and were swept by the Phillies in a 5-2 loss.
The Braves posted a five-run first inning, including a three-run double by Flowers, and Teherán allowed four hits and two runs in six and 1/3 innings pitched in an 8-2 win over the Mets on April 27, snapping a six-game losing skid. The final game of the two-game series the next night went back and forth for the first five innings, but Kurt Suzuki hit a three-run homer in the top of the fifth to lead the Braves to a 7-5 victory and sweep of the Mets.
The Braves rallied twice from four-run deficits, thanks to a three-run double in the third inning and Suzuki's pinch-hit single in the eighth, and hit the go-ahead two-run homer to center field in the ninth to clinch a 10-8 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on April 28. Kemp's three-homer performance highlighted an 11-run, 20-hit rout of the Brewers the following night and Jamie Garcia gave up only two runs on three hits over six innings pitched in an 11-3 win over the Brewers. The Braves carried a 2-1 lead into the sixth inning, but Swanson bobbled a grounder hit by Hernan Perez trying to throw to second and end the inning with two outs. This proved fatal to the Braves as Domingo Santana came up to bat and knocked in a three-run homer that ended the Braves's four-game win streak in a 4-3 loss.
May Teherán started the Braves first game back home since April 20 by giving up a leadoff homer to Michael Conforto and gave up five runs in the fourth inning in a 7-5 loss to an injury-depleted New York Mets squad on May 1. The following night, Matt Harvey of the Mets surrendered six runs in five and a third innings pitched to three runs by Dickey. Jay Bruce's grand slam in the top of the ninth with two outs on the board pulled the Mets within two runs of the Braves, but Braves closer Johnson recorded the final out to give the Braves a 9-7 victory. The Braves could only muster five runs against an onslaught of 20 hits and 16 runs by the Mets in a 16-5 loss in the third game of the series.
The Braves couldn't muster a run in a 10-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on May 5. Garcia's three-run homer kept the Braves alive, but couldn't overcome a two-run homer from Matt Carpenter, a solo shot from Matt Adams and being held to one hit through the first six innings in a 5-3 loss the following night. A four-run rally to send the game into extra innings on May 7 was rendered moot by Tommy Pham's two-run homer in the 14th in a 6-4 loss to the Cardinals.
Colón surrendered five runs in the first inning alone in an 8-3 loss to the Houston Astros on May 9. Freeman and García homered to give the Braves a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning on May 10, but Carlos Correa landed a double in left-field to bring in two runs and the Astros won 4-2.
Mike Foltynewicz surrendered just six hits and one run in six innings pitched, and the Braves ballooned a 2-1 lead with a six-run seventh inning to beat the Miami Marlins 8-3 on May 12 and snap a six-game losing skid. Teherán pitched six scoreless innings, allowing only three hits, and Nick Markakis and Swanson brought in runners with singles in the fourth inning to clinch a series win in a 3-1 victory the following night. The Marlins took the final game of the series with a three-run homer off the bat of Tyler Moore and beating the Braves 3-1.
Freeman's 13th homer of the season highlighted a 10-run barrage the Braves put up on the road in Toronto in a 10-6 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on May 15. Swanson and Freeman homered in the seventh inning the next night to lift the Braves 9-5 over the Blue Jays in the second game of the series and last in Toronto. Back in Atlanta on May 17 for the third of four games against the Blue Jays, the Braves took advantage of a poor start by Joe Biagini with a six-run first inning, including a three-run homer by Kurt Suzuki, to take the series victory in an 8-4 game win. Marcus Stroman's fourth inning homer highlighted a nine-run shutout of the Braves in the last of a four-game interleague series.
With the score tied at four in the eighth inning on May 19, Enny Romero of the Nationals issued Phillips a one-out walk, who then stole second a few moments, gave up a right-field single to Markakis, allowing Phillips to score, and then surrendered a two-run homer to Suzuki to give the Braves a 7-4 victory. Flowers, Kemp and Rio Ruiz all homered to give the Braves a 5-2 victory the following day. Stephen Strasburg recorded 11 strikeouts and held the Braves to five hits in 7 and 2/3rd innings pitched in a 3-2 victory over the Braves in the final game of the series.