<img alt="Colorado Rockies v. Atlanta Braves" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/AI8VbVK1jus4Cj9DWTwEVgs2QeY=/0x0:4380x2920/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73567748/2169743537.0.jpg">
Photo by Todd Kirkland/MLB Photos via Getty Images
The Braves still won the series but they also missed a golden chance gain as much ground as possible in the NL Wild Card race. Heading into this series, the Atlanta Braves were going for a sweep in order to set the record straight against a Colorado Rockies team that tripped them up in a major way back at Coors Field. For the first two games, it sure seemed like the Braves were going to get their lick back and then some. However, Thursday night definitely didn’t go to plan and just like that, things have once again gotten as uncomfortably close as you can possibly get in the race for the final NL Wild Card spot. Let’s go ahead and talk about what happened, y’all.
An opportunity missed
Usually, if you pick up a series win then you come away from it feeling satisfied. I can’t say that you’re going to find many satisfied people in Atlanta’s clubhouse after what happened on Thursday night. The Braves lineup was completely mystified by Austin Gomber, who delivered his best start since going eight innings and giving up one run against the A’s back on May 22. Nearly four months later, Gomber repeated the trick and made sure that the Rockies would at least be getting on the plane with a win in this series. It also didn’t help that we got another Luke Jackson appearance in a high-leverage situation but we’re not going to delve deep into that decision this time.
While it’s definitely a lot to ask of any team to pull off a sweep, the Braves needed a sweep as badly as any team in baseball right now. This was an opportunity to gain ground on the Diamondbacks (who lost 3-2 to the Giants) and put some space between themselves and the idle Mets. Instead, the Braves and Mets are now tied for the final Wild Card spot once again and the D-Backs were able to hold onto their 2.5 game lead for the second spot. Hopefully we’re not looking back at this game as one that may have potentially cost the Braves dearly.
While the Braves have largely taken care of business against the last-place Marlins in the NL East, they have gone exactly .500 (9-9) against the last-place teams in the NL Central, NL West, AL Central and AL West. The last-place team in the AL East will be coming to town this weekend but the 67-75 Blue Jays aren’t exactly going to be pushovers, either. With the Mets having a home series against the Reds this weekend, it is absolutely imperative that the Braves get a series win, bare minimum. A sweep would’ve been golden this week but all they can do is move on and lock in the rest of the way forward.
Chris Sale continues to bolster his case for award season
By now, it’s essentially just a a matter of putting icing on the cake as far as Chris Sale’s NL Cy Young Award-winning season is concerned. It’s very safe to assume at this point that he’s going to end up winning the award for the first time in his career and it’s not going to be much of a contest. After throwing seven shutout innings and striking out nine batters to open up the series on Tuesday against the Rockies, Sale now has the Major League lead among qualified starters in strikeout percentage (32.4 percent), ERA- (59), FIP- (51) and even xFIP- (63). All across the board, Sale has been the man this season and he’s going to deserve every bit of the praise he gets once he officially takes the award.
Sale’s dominance this season has gotten to the point where he may well get a decent amount of votes for NL MVP as well. Now granted, I’ve never particularly a fan of giving a starting pitcher the MVP since it’s not like they’re out there everyday. With that being said, you really could make a strong argument that Sale has been the most valuable player on this team here in 2024. Outside of that wacky start against Oakland, Sale has given the Braves a very good chance to win in nearly every one of his starts.
Additionally, he would be a top 10 player in baseball according to fWAR, as his 6.1 fWAR for the season would put him right behind Elly De La Cruz for ninth place and only .5 fWAR behind presumptive NL MVP Shohei Ohtani (side note: I know Francisco Lindor has a big lead in fWAR but Ohtani is ahead in bWAR and WARP. Additionally, if he gets 50/50 then it’ll be like Ronald Acuña Jr. getting 40/70 last season in that that’ll essentially clinch the award). Chris Sale definitely isn’t going to win the NL MVP but it will not be shocking at all if he gets a decent amount of votes and he’s also a shoo-in for the NL Cy Young. Not bad for an “injury risk.”
The injury luck really might be turning
At this point, everybody around here has submitted their take on the whole Whit Merrifield situation. However, I think we all glossed over the most important takeaway of the situation, which is that Merrifield ended up coming out of it relatively okay. Now granted, he still missed a game and started Thursday’s game on the bench but the fact of the matter is that he managed to avoid serious injury despite taking one of the scariest HBPs that you’ll see on any given night.
Even on the very next night, Eli White was hit by a pitch from Seth Halvorsen that was clocked at 100-mph on the radar gun. White not only got hit on the wrist by that heater but he shook it off and even tried to steal a base while he was out there. It wasn’t too long ago when it was understandable to expect the worst whenever a Braves hitter got smacked by a pitch or was seen to be in some sort of pain.
Instead, most of the injury scares for the Braves in recent days have been just that — scares. I might be tempted fate by suggesting this but maybe, just maybe, the injury luck for Atlanta is starting to turn around and at precisely the right time, too. With the Wild Card race looking like it’s going to be intense right up until the end, the Braves are going to need all hands on deck and hopefully the injury luck will continue to go Atlanta’s way as the season continues to wind down.
<img alt="Colorado Rockies v. Atlanta Braves" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/AI8VbVK1jus4Cj9DWTwEVgs2QeY=/0x0:4380x2920/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73567748/2169743537.0.jpg">
Photo by Todd Kirkland/MLB Photos via Getty Images
The Braves still won the series but they also missed a golden chance gain as much ground as possible in the NL Wild Card race. Heading into this series, the Atlanta Braves were going for a sweep in order to set the record straight against a Colorado Rockies team that tripped them up in a major way back at Coors Field. For the first two games, it sure seemed like the Braves were going to get their lick back and then some. However, Thursday night definitely didn’t go to plan and just like that, things have once again gotten as uncomfortably close as you can possibly get in the race for the final NL Wild Card spot. Let’s go ahead and talk about what happened, y’all.
An opportunity missed
Usually, if you pick up a series win then you come away from it feeling satisfied. I can’t say that you’re going to find many satisfied people in Atlanta’s clubhouse after what happened on Thursday night. The Braves lineup was completely mystified by Austin Gomber, who delivered his best start since going eight innings and giving up one run against the A’s back on May 22. Nearly four months later, Gomber repeated the trick and made sure that the Rockies would at least be getting on the plane with a win in this series. It also didn’t help that we got another Luke Jackson appearance in a high-leverage situation but we’re not going to delve deep into that decision this time.
While it’s definitely a lot to ask of any team to pull off a sweep, the Braves needed a sweep as badly as any team in baseball right now. This was an opportunity to gain ground on the Diamondbacks (who lost 3-2 to the Giants) and put some space between themselves and the idle Mets. Instead, the Braves and Mets are now tied for the final Wild Card spot once again and the D-Backs were able to hold onto their 2.5 game lead for the second spot. Hopefully we’re not looking back at this game as one that may have potentially cost the Braves dearly.
While the Braves have largely taken care of business against the last-place Marlins in the NL East, they have gone exactly .500 (9-9) against the last-place teams in the NL Central, NL West, AL Central and AL West. The last-place team in the AL East will be coming to town this weekend but the 67-75 Blue Jays aren’t exactly going to be pushovers, either. With the Mets having a home series against the Reds this weekend, it is absolutely imperative that the Braves get a series win, bare minimum. A sweep would’ve been golden this week but all they can do is move on and lock in the rest of the way forward.
Chris Sale continues to bolster his case for award season
By now, it’s essentially just a a matter of putting icing on the cake as far as Chris Sale’s NL Cy Young Award-winning season is concerned. It’s very safe to assume at this point that he’s going to end up winning the award for the first time in his career and it’s not going to be much of a contest. After throwing seven shutout innings and striking out nine batters to open up the series on Tuesday against the Rockies, Sale now has the Major League lead among qualified starters in strikeout percentage (32.4 percent), ERA- (59), FIP- (51) and even xFIP- (63). All across the board, Sale has been the man this season and he’s going to deserve every bit of the praise he gets once he officially takes the award.
Sale’s dominance this season has gotten to the point where he may well get a decent amount of votes for NL MVP as well. Now granted, I’ve never particularly a fan of giving a starting pitcher the MVP since it’s not like they’re out there everyday. With that being said, you really could make a strong argument that Sale has been the most valuable player on this team here in 2024. Outside of that wacky start against Oakland, Sale has given the Braves a very good chance to win in nearly every one of his starts.
Additionally, he would be a top 10 player in baseball according to fWAR, as his 6.1 fWAR for the season would put him right behind Elly De La Cruz for ninth place and only .5 fWAR behind presumptive NL MVP Shohei Ohtani (side note: I know Francisco Lindor has a big lead in fWAR but Ohtani is ahead in bWAR and WARP. Additionally, if he gets 50/50 then it’ll be like Ronald Acuña Jr. getting 40/70 last season in that that’ll essentially clinch the award). Chris Sale definitely isn’t going to win the NL MVP but it will not be shocking at all if he gets a decent amount of votes and he’s also a shoo-in for the NL Cy Young. Not bad for an “injury risk.”
The injury luck really might be turning
At this point, everybody around here has submitted their take on the whole Whit Merrifield situation. However, I think we all glossed over the most important takeaway of the situation, which is that Merrifield ended up coming out of it relatively okay. Now granted, he still missed a game and started Thursday’s game on the bench but the fact of the matter is that he managed to avoid serious injury despite taking one of the scariest HBPs that you’ll see on any given night.
Even on the very next night, Eli White was hit by a pitch from Seth Halvorsen that was clocked at 100-mph on the radar gun. White not only got hit on the wrist by that heater but he shook it off and even tried to steal a base while he was out there. It wasn’t too long ago when it was understandable to expect the worst whenever a Braves hitter got smacked by a pitch or was seen to be in some sort of pain.
Instead, most of the injury scares for the Braves in recent days have been just that — scares. I might be tempted fate by suggesting this but maybe, just maybe, the injury luck for Atlanta is starting to turn around and at precisely the right time, too. With the Wild Card race looking like it’s going to be intense right up until the end, the Braves are going to need all hands on deck and hopefully the injury luck will continue to go Atlanta’s way as the season continues to wind down.
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