ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves started last season 5-0 and still finished a woeful 67-95.
This year, they started off a poorly as they finished last season, showing that their rebuilding effort has a long ways to go.
The Braves won just 25 of their final 80 games a year ago and went into this season with a taunting early schedule.
At 0-5 after being swept by the St. Louis Cardinals over the weekend, the Braves are off to their worst start since losing the first 10 games in 1988.
The team’s next four games are in Washington, where the Braves went 0-10 last year and have won just once in the past 15 games.
The Nationals swept a two-game series in Atlanta to start this season and are 23-9 against the Braves since June of 2014.
To show how fortunes have changed, the Braves had gone 24-8 against the Nationals prior to that.
The Braves faltered late in 2014 and the massive rebuild started after general manager Frank Wren was fired.
Top starter Shelby Miller and Gold Glove shortstop Andrelton Simmons were traded last winter, making the tear down nearly complete, and the prospects the Braves acquired won’t be ready to turn things around for a few years.
“We’re not looking really pretty right now in all aspects of the game — offensively, defensively, pitching,” Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “There’s no panic or anything, but it’s not good baseball.”