<img alt="Cincinnati Reds v Atlanta Braves" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4dl32XIPdv2F91vEgXGx3bpEJo4=/0x0:4907x3271/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73487568/2163329625.0.jpg">
Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images
The Braves goofed badly in the first two games, but slammed the Mets back to earth to even the series The Braves and Mets essentially played to a standstill in New York. The Braves came into the series already reeling, and played some absolutely terrible baseball en route to two losses. But then, on the back of Spencer Schwellenbach’s brilliance and some bona fide homers, they were able to even the series.
The Trade Deadline is coming and the Braves still haven’t made a move; this team probably needs some help to get to the playoffs now that they’ve largely eroded their cushion, and all eyes are on the Front Office to see what kind of support they’re able to muster for this injury-depleted crew.
Uh-oh, Reynaldo Lopez
Probably the biggest actual impact of this series has to do with Reynaldo Lopez departing partway through the series finale with forearm tightness, and then heading back to Atlanta to get an MRI. We’ve got multiple posts on those proceedings already, so no need to rehash the facts — but fundamentally, the Braves treated Lopez with extreme kid gloves, and he’s still down for the count with a dreaded arm injury at this point, joining Max Fried (and Spencer Strider!!) in that regard.
While it’s hard to say whether the Braves would’ve gotten the same solid pitching from Lopez had they pushed him further, or whether their management of his workload helped stave off the eventual arm troubles, the Braves now have to work around yet another injury to a major contributor, one that they did not manage to avoid by whatever pitching management strategy they’ve been implementing.
The only good news is that this happened before Tuesday’s Trade Deadline rather than, say, during Lopez’ next start. If the news is bad, the Braves can probably find a fill-in, even on short notice.
Back to basics / Braves baseball
The Braves did some wacky small-ball stuff in the series opener and executed it terribly, leading to what might be the season’s worst loss, and is almost certainly its stupidest defeat so far. While we don’t know if that display of ineptitude actually served as a wake-up call, we did at least see the Braves get back to their own brand of basics in the other three games. They hit three homers on Friday, which could’ve been enough had Charlie Morton not also allowed three homers of his own. They then hit three homers on Saturday, which was enough, and followed that up with a quartet of longballs in a Sunday afternoon rout.
Mets pitching is truly abominable, so this isn’t really some sort of hyper-positive sign or anything. But, the recent homer barrage should hopefully convince the team that they don’t need to do stuff they have no idea how to execute; sitting back and waiting for the longball works just fine, even in this run environment.
More bullpen dominance
The Mets came into this series with the third-best xwOBA in baseball, and the best xwOBA in baseball since the start of June. The Braves’ bullpen was... unimpressed.
Thursday: 5/1 K/BB ratio, and the only walk was an intentional extra-innings thing.
Friday: 6/3 K/BB ratio, with all three walks coming from Daysbel Hernandez serving in a mop-up capacity.
Saturday: 3/0 K/BB ratio
Sunday: 8/2 K/BB ratio, with a garbage time homer given up by Jimmy Herget.
With Reynaldo Lopez down, Max Fried coming back on Friday at the earliest, and the Braves likely throwing two bullpen-ish games to start the Brewers series, this elite unit has its work cut out for them. They’ve been incredibly well-rested and infrequently-used thus far, so it’s time for them to shine and keep the Braves in this thing. They’re now top four in each of ERA-, FIP-, and xFIP-, but are 27th in innings and 29th in batters faced. It’s time for the Braves to leverage this incredibly effective part of the roster as much as they can to try and hold on to a playoff spot.
All eyes on the Trade Deadline
After Sunday’s win, the Braves’ playoff odds are back up to around 80 percent, but they feel a lot more tenuous given the lineup this team rolls out on a daily basis, and the fact that they’re a weekend sweep away from losing a playoff spot altogether.
The Braves desperately need outfield help for a unit that rates in the bottom five in fWAR, and that includes contributions from guys that are currently injured. Nacho Alvarez Jr. hasn’t really done anything at all with his limited opportunity. The rotation probably isn’t the biggest focus, but Reynaldo Lopez being incapacitated for any serious stretch makes it an important area for upgrading as well.
We’ll see what the Front Office has cooking — hopefully it’s something to bolster this unit, that can ride its rotation and dingers, along with some decent fill-ins to avoid bleeding wins, down the stretch.
<img alt="Cincinnati Reds v Atlanta Braves" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4dl32XIPdv2F91vEgXGx3bpEJo4=/0x0:4907x3271/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73487568/2163329625.0.jpg">
Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images
The Braves goofed badly in the first two games, but slammed the Mets back to earth to even the series The Braves and Mets essentially played to a standstill in New York. The Braves came into the series already reeling, and played some absolutely terrible baseball en route to two losses. But then, on the back of Spencer Schwellenbach’s brilliance and some bona fide homers, they were able to even the series.
The Trade Deadline is coming and the Braves still haven’t made a move; this team probably needs some help to get to the playoffs now that they’ve largely eroded their cushion, and all eyes are on the Front Office to see what kind of support they’re able to muster for this injury-depleted crew.
Uh-oh, Reynaldo Lopez
Probably the biggest actual impact of this series has to do with Reynaldo Lopez departing partway through the series finale with forearm tightness, and then heading back to Atlanta to get an MRI. We’ve got multiple posts on those proceedings already, so no need to rehash the facts — but fundamentally, the Braves treated Lopez with extreme kid gloves, and he’s still down for the count with a dreaded arm injury at this point, joining Max Fried (and Spencer Strider!!) in that regard.
While it’s hard to say whether the Braves would’ve gotten the same solid pitching from Lopez had they pushed him further, or whether their management of his workload helped stave off the eventual arm troubles, the Braves now have to work around yet another injury to a major contributor, one that they did not manage to avoid by whatever pitching management strategy they’ve been implementing.
The only good news is that this happened before Tuesday’s Trade Deadline rather than, say, during Lopez’ next start. If the news is bad, the Braves can probably find a fill-in, even on short notice.
Back to basics / Braves baseball
The Braves did some wacky small-ball stuff in the series opener and executed it terribly, leading to what might be the season’s worst loss, and is almost certainly its stupidest defeat so far. While we don’t know if that display of ineptitude actually served as a wake-up call, we did at least see the Braves get back to their own brand of basics in the other three games. They hit three homers on Friday, which could’ve been enough had Charlie Morton not also allowed three homers of his own. They then hit three homers on Saturday, which was enough, and followed that up with a quartet of longballs in a Sunday afternoon rout.
Mets pitching is truly abominable, so this isn’t really some sort of hyper-positive sign or anything. But, the recent homer barrage should hopefully convince the team that they don’t need to do stuff they have no idea how to execute; sitting back and waiting for the longball works just fine, even in this run environment.
More bullpen dominance
The Mets came into this series with the third-best xwOBA in baseball, and the best xwOBA in baseball since the start of June. The Braves’ bullpen was... unimpressed.
Thursday: 5/1 K/BB ratio, and the only walk was an intentional extra-innings thing.
Friday: 6/3 K/BB ratio, with all three walks coming from Daysbel Hernandez serving in a mop-up capacity.
Saturday: 3/0 K/BB ratio
Sunday: 8/2 K/BB ratio, with a garbage time homer given up by Jimmy Herget.
With Reynaldo Lopez down, Max Fried coming back on Friday at the earliest, and the Braves likely throwing two bullpen-ish games to start the Brewers series, this elite unit has its work cut out for them. They’ve been incredibly well-rested and infrequently-used thus far, so it’s time for them to shine and keep the Braves in this thing. They’re now top four in each of ERA-, FIP-, and xFIP-, but are 27th in innings and 29th in batters faced. It’s time for the Braves to leverage this incredibly effective part of the roster as much as they can to try and hold on to a playoff spot.
All eyes on the Trade Deadline
After Sunday’s win, the Braves’ playoff odds are back up to around 80 percent, but they feel a lot more tenuous given the lineup this team rolls out on a daily basis, and the fact that they’re a weekend sweep away from losing a playoff spot altogether.
The Braves desperately need outfield help for a unit that rates in the bottom five in fWAR, and that includes contributions from guys that are currently injured. Nacho Alvarez Jr. hasn’t really done anything at all with his limited opportunity. The rotation probably isn’t the biggest focus, but Reynaldo Lopez being incapacitated for any serious stretch makes it an important area for upgrading as well.
We’ll see what the Front Office has cooking — hopefully it’s something to bolster this unit, that can ride its rotation and dingers, along with some decent fill-ins to avoid bleeding wins, down the stretch.
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