<img alt="Atlanta Braves v Washington Nationals" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WJzv_Iehpbd6HrrywE-QGo2r-bk=/0x0:5572x3715/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73396818/2156573174.0.jpg">
Photo by Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images
Losing this one by four runs was a team effort There was a point in this game where you could’ve pointed to all the wacky stuff that went against the Braves and in favor of the Nationals and had that be the summary. But, in the sixth, the Braves asked Dylan Lee to eat an inning, and he gave up a two-run homer, extending their deficit from three runs to five. That really changed the complexion of the game from one where the Braves could’ve gone somewhere if not for some tough breaks, to, well, another complete loss. So it goes.
This one really was a team effort as far as losing goes, with no part of the roster performing particularly well. The pitching was probably the least bad — Charlie Morton once again suffered a .360+ BABIP-against and only managed three strikeouts in five innings. While he didn’t walk anyone, he did hit the first man he faced, C.J. Abrams, with an 0-2 count. Overall, Braves pitchers put up a 3.51 FIP and 3.47 xFIP on the day, with what is likely to be a much uglier xERA. Those aren’t bad marks in this run environment, but they’re not particularly good, either.
What made it worse was, well, everything else. The big blow was asking Dylan Lee, whose career line is really driven by dominating lefties, to face switch-right-left in the sixth. Lee has been even worse against righties this year, and had faced 70 righties but just 38 lefties coming into this game. After giving up a leadoff single, Nick Senzel hit a homer off of him to pretty much put the game out of reach. Another unfortunate occurrence happened in the first — after Morton hit Abrams and allowed a single, old pal Eddie Rosario hit a routine fly ball into right-center. That ball tends to be caught around 80 percent of the time, but the Braves weren’t playing Rosario to pull, so it split the defense and went for a two-run double.
The defense also directly played its part in giving Washington another run in the fifth, as Austin Riley short-hopped a routine throw from third, and the runner later moved to third on an errant pickoff throw. That, of course, came home to roost as Rosario hit a grounder through the infield to score Washington’s fifth run. (The other two runs in between those scored as a result of two weak flare doubles by Senzel, which, that’s baseball in 2024, folks, especially when Morton only manages three strikeouts in five innings.)
And, of course, there was the offense. After two strikeouts to start the game, the Braves put together a little rally with singles from Marcell Ozuna and Matt Olson, and then a really nice plate appearance that ended in a walk by Adam Duvall. That brought up Orlando Arcia, and... he hit a routine fly to right. There was a barreled out by Michael Harris II in the second, Ozuna hitting into a double play in the third, a strikeout on a pitch clock violation by Murphy, and Riley striking out with a man on, seconds after hitting a ball just foul down the left field line, in the fifth. The Braves did get their first run after Harris was hit by a MacKenzie Gore pitch in the fifth and scored on an Ozzie Albies double, but it wasn’t enough, given Riley’s aforementioned strikeout.
Even when the Braves chased Gore with two singles in the sixth, they immediately got shut down by Derek Law, who struck out Duvall, had Arcia to hit it to the right fielder again, and then struck out Harris as well. A wild pitch by Law did score a run in that sequence, but again, just not enough. Murphy also took Law deep for his first homer of the year in the seventh, but that came after Senzel’s homer off Lee, so it didn’t really move the needle very much. The Braves went nine up, nine down after Murphy’s homer.
Ray Kerr and Daysbel Hernandez did end the game with goose eggs for the Braves, with Kerr benefiting from a weird sequence where Rosario hit into a 3-6-3 double play with runners on the corners and none out that didn’t score a run because Rosario thought the ball was foul, but even that’s not much of a positive. The Braves invested substantial resources into their bullpen backend under the premise that they’d be used to hold leads more often than not, but instead, they’ve been throwing mop-up guy after mop-up guy at opponents these days. Kerr, in particular, was supposed to be, in theory, a shutdown guy from the left side with options, but has instead been converted into a “why don’t you throw a bunch of pitches so no one else has to” guy, which seems weird to me, especially when A.J. Minter is on the Injured List. Ah, but I digress...
Anyway, the Braves now drop to 35-27, and can, at best, split this series behind Hurston Waldrep’s major league debut on Sunday. On the one hand, the Braves aren’t exactly consistently winning games right now... but on the other hand, the sense that this is of little concern is palpable. So far in 2024, there are only four teams in the National League with a winning record, and the Braves seem firmly ensconced in something like the top ten teams in MLB, given that only those ten teams are above .500 right now. With teams like the Astros, Rays, and Blue Jays floundering, and really most of MLB embracing mediocrity, there just doesn’t appear to be a need for any sense of urgency, except in the pursuit of interesting baseball to watch... which again, doesn’t seem like anyone’s concern.
Stay tuned for Waldrep’s MLB debut, I guess!
<img alt="Atlanta Braves v Washington Nationals" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WJzv_Iehpbd6HrrywE-QGo2r-bk=/0x0:5572x3715/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73396818/2156573174.0.jpg">
Photo by Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images
Losing this one by four runs was a team effort There was a point in this game where you could’ve pointed to all the wacky stuff that went against the Braves and in favor of the Nationals and had that be the summary. But, in the sixth, the Braves asked Dylan Lee to eat an inning, and he gave up a two-run homer, extending their deficit from three runs to five. That really changed the complexion of the game from one where the Braves could’ve gone somewhere if not for some tough breaks, to, well, another complete loss. So it goes.
This one really was a team effort as far as losing goes, with no part of the roster performing particularly well. The pitching was probably the least bad — Charlie Morton once again suffered a .360+ BABIP-against and only managed three strikeouts in five innings. While he didn’t walk anyone, he did hit the first man he faced, C.J. Abrams, with an 0-2 count. Overall, Braves pitchers put up a 3.51 FIP and 3.47 xFIP on the day, with what is likely to be a much uglier xERA. Those aren’t bad marks in this run environment, but they’re not particularly good, either.
What made it worse was, well, everything else. The big blow was asking Dylan Lee, whose career line is really driven by dominating lefties, to face switch-right-left in the sixth. Lee has been even worse against righties this year, and had faced 70 righties but just 38 lefties coming into this game. After giving up a leadoff single, Nick Senzel hit a homer off of him to pretty much put the game out of reach. Another unfortunate occurrence happened in the first — after Morton hit Abrams and allowed a single, old pal Eddie Rosario hit a routine fly ball into right-center. That ball tends to be caught around 80 percent of the time, but the Braves weren’t playing Rosario to pull, so it split the defense and went for a two-run double.
The defense also directly played its part in giving Washington another run in the fifth, as Austin Riley short-hopped a routine throw from third, and the runner later moved to third on an errant pickoff throw. That, of course, came home to roost as Rosario hit a grounder through the infield to score Washington’s fifth run. (The other two runs in between those scored as a result of two weak flare doubles by Senzel, which, that’s baseball in 2024, folks, especially when Morton only manages three strikeouts in five innings.)
And, of course, there was the offense. After two strikeouts to start the game, the Braves put together a little rally with singles from Marcell Ozuna and Matt Olson, and then a really nice plate appearance that ended in a walk by Adam Duvall. That brought up Orlando Arcia, and... he hit a routine fly to right. There was a barreled out by Michael Harris II in the second, Ozuna hitting into a double play in the third, a strikeout on a pitch clock violation by Murphy, and Riley striking out with a man on, seconds after hitting a ball just foul down the left field line, in the fifth. The Braves did get their first run after Harris was hit by a MacKenzie Gore pitch in the fifth and scored on an Ozzie Albies double, but it wasn’t enough, given Riley’s aforementioned strikeout.
Even when the Braves chased Gore with two singles in the sixth, they immediately got shut down by Derek Law, who struck out Duvall, had Arcia to hit it to the right fielder again, and then struck out Harris as well. A wild pitch by Law did score a run in that sequence, but again, just not enough. Murphy also took Law deep for his first homer of the year in the seventh, but that came after Senzel’s homer off Lee, so it didn’t really move the needle very much. The Braves went nine up, nine down after Murphy’s homer.
Ray Kerr and Daysbel Hernandez did end the game with goose eggs for the Braves, with Kerr benefiting from a weird sequence where Rosario hit into a 3-6-3 double play with runners on the corners and none out that didn’t score a run because Rosario thought the ball was foul, but even that’s not much of a positive. The Braves invested substantial resources into their bullpen backend under the premise that they’d be used to hold leads more often than not, but instead, they’ve been throwing mop-up guy after mop-up guy at opponents these days. Kerr, in particular, was supposed to be, in theory, a shutdown guy from the left side with options, but has instead been converted into a “why don’t you throw a bunch of pitches so no one else has to” guy, which seems weird to me, especially when A.J. Minter is on the Injured List. Ah, but I digress...
Anyway, the Braves now drop to 35-27, and can, at best, split this series behind Hurston Waldrep’s major league debut on Sunday. On the one hand, the Braves aren’t exactly consistently winning games right now... but on the other hand, the sense that this is of little concern is palpable. So far in 2024, there are only four teams in the National League with a winning record, and the Braves seem firmly ensconced in something like the top ten teams in MLB, given that only those ten teams are above .500 right now. With teams like the Astros, Rays, and Blue Jays floundering, and really most of MLB embracing mediocrity, there just doesn’t appear to be a need for any sense of urgency, except in the pursuit of interesting baseball to watch... which again, doesn’t seem like anyone’s concern.
Stay tuned for Waldrep’s MLB debut, I guess!
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