<img alt="Atlanta Braves v. Miami Marlins" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/69Rm4ARGXt6X3vEe0JZ-i0TAoQ0=/0x0:5418x3612/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73604201/2172974910.0.jpg">
Photo by Kelly Gavin/MLB Photos via Getty Images
It was a tough, hard-fought series with lots of twists and turns but the Braves did what they could to make sure the season isn’t over quite yet. Welp! The Atlanta Braves did their part over the weekend. While they didn’t pick up a sweep that likely would’ve been golden, they still at least picked up the series win over the Miami Marlins and made sure that they didn’t end up in a completely hopeless situation as they return home for their final homestand. While the Marlins went into this series absolutely limping and licking their wounds after getting bombed by the Shohei Ohtani-led Dodgers, they were still up for the fight against their hated rivals from Georgia and certainly made this an interesting series.
Still, the Braves were able to get the job done and pick up the series win. It was by no means simple or easy but they got the job done. If they are going to pull off the upset at this point in the season and get into the playoffs, it’ll likely continue to be the opposite of simple and easy. That’s life — especially when it comes to playoff-intensity baseball and doubly so when it comes to this year’s version of the Atlanta Braves.
Weird process, good results
We’ve got to talk about Sunday’s game because it was a doozy. Grant Holmes got the start against Miami and went four innings while striking out five, giving up three hits, one walk and two runs. Again, this is the type of performance that you take from Holmes and smile while relying on your bullpen. That ended up being the case, as Dylan Lee, Pierce Johnson, Aaron Bummer, Daysbel Hernández and Raisel Iglesias all got to pitch in the series finale on Sunday.
With that being said, it was certain that Brian Snitker decided to take a different approach to how he handled the bullpen on Sunday. Holmes found himself in serious trouble in the fifth inning when the Marlins led off with a walk and a double to put runners on second and third with nobody out while the Braves were only up 3-2. That was when Dylan Lee entered the game and fortunately, he was able to put out the fire with two strikeouts and a groundout. Atlanta added a run of insurance and Lee stayed out there for the sixth inning. Sure enough, this didn’t go well for Atlanta as he gave up back-to-back homers to make it 4-4. Pierce Johnson entered and retired the Marlins in order, which really made you wonder why he didn’t just get the ball to start the frame instead of trying to get another inning out of Lee.
Aaron Bummer got the ball for the seventh and proceeded to get BABIP’d once again. He has the highest BABIP among qualified relievers in all of baseball (.388) and we saw that on full display after he gave up a bunt single in order to find himself with two men on. Once there were runners on the corners after another bunt, Bummer got Xavier Edwards to strike out. Instead of hoping that Bummer and his top-10 Ground Ball Rate could get a ground ball to get out of the inning with a double play, Snitker went with Daysbel Hernández. The good news is that Hernández was able to finish them off in order but again, it was just a strange decision to make. I suppose Snitker was probably spooked by Bummer appearing to suffer from some more bad luck and didn’t want that bad luck to cost him the game but it was still strange to hand over such a huge situation to a guy who has spent most of the season in Triple-A. Baptism by fire, I guess.
Finally, Raisel Iglesias got the ball and picked up a six-out save. Naturally this worked out because Raisel Iglesias has been incredible this season but it was still a sign that Brian Snitker is starting to shift his bullpen management with the season being on the line — for better or worse. I’m not going to sit here and say that I’m some know-it-all who knows exactly what the Braves should’ve done here but I can say that it was definitely a weird process. Fortunately, the process brought the Braves to the promised land of a victory but also at this point, I’d be shocked if we don’t see some more unusual decisions since the Braves are essentially in Playoff Mode at this point.
Offense finishes productive road trip
After finishing the final two games of their homestand with the Dodgers by scoring a grand total of two runs over two games, Atlanta didn’t exactly enter into this road trip on a wave of confidence at the plate. They put up plenty of runs against Cincinnati and while the Marlins series didn’t exactly get off to a great start, they eventually ended the series by winning two straight mostly because the offense was able to capitalize against a not-so-imposing group of Marlins pitchers. They even managed to win 5-4, which improved their record in games where the other team scored at least four runs to 11-56. That’s still shockingly bad but at least it’s not 10-57, right?
In all seriousness, it was very encouraging to see the Braves actually win one of those games and a lot of it had to do with a lot of the core players for Atlanta stepping up and getting it done on a consistent basis. Matt Olson had four hits (including a homer) and four RBIs in Miami. Michael Harris II racked up eight hits (including a triple) and three runs in order to keep the line going. Although Marcell Ozuna didn’t homer, he’s continued to get back into a rhythm at the plate after going through a slump to start September. Ozzie Albies marked his return to the lineup with a home run that got things going on Sunday. Sean Murphy — well, Sean Murphy played hard.
Either way, the big names for the Braves came through and helped Atlanta stay alive in the Wild Card race. Now granted, they’re still rank outsiders at this point to make the Postseason but they’ve still got a chance as long as they take it (more on that, later). A series win was the bare minimum requirement for Atlanta and thanks to their lineup keeping things going, they were able to meet that bare minimum goal.
This is it
So, here we are. The final week of the regular season is upon us and while the Braves are still clear outsiders to make the Postseason, they have as good of a chance as anybody else. The Mets are certainly going to be up for the task, though. They just got done taking three-out-of-four against the Phillies in order to delay Philadelphia’s divisional title celebration and they’re heating up at the right time. They’re hungry and a lot of those players will certainly have memories of September 2022 in their head as they travel to Cobb County this week.
With that being said, this is the opportunity for the Braves. Despite everything that’s happened with this team here in 2024, they’re only two games behind the Mets with three games against each other. If the Braves can hold serve and win this upcoming series, they’ll have a real shot in the final series against a Kansas City team that is absolutely limping to the finish line in their Wild Card race. If they pick up a sweep in 2022 fashion, then the Braves will really be cooking with gasoline heading into that final series against the Royals.
Either way, you don’t need me to tell you that this is the biggest series of the season by a country mile. Their Postseason lives are on the line, they’ve got their heated divisional rivals coming into town fighting for that same Postseason spot and you absolutely need a good result or else the season is likely over. This would be a perfect time for the Braves team that is currently nine games over .500 at home and 10 games over .500 against teams with winning records to show up. They’ll have their best three arms going for this series as well. Either they make it happen right here and now or it’ll be time to figure things out for 2025. I’d rather roll the dice in October, wouldn’t you?
<img alt="Atlanta Braves v. Miami Marlins" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/69Rm4ARGXt6X3vEe0JZ-i0TAoQ0=/0x0:5418x3612/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73604201/2172974910.0.jpg">
Photo by Kelly Gavin/MLB Photos via Getty Images
It was a tough, hard-fought series with lots of twists and turns but the Braves did what they could to make sure the season isn’t over quite yet. Welp! The Atlanta Braves did their part over the weekend. While they didn’t pick up a sweep that likely would’ve been golden, they still at least picked up the series win over the Miami Marlins and made sure that they didn’t end up in a completely hopeless situation as they return home for their final homestand. While the Marlins went into this series absolutely limping and licking their wounds after getting bombed by the Shohei Ohtani-led Dodgers, they were still up for the fight against their hated rivals from Georgia and certainly made this an interesting series.
Still, the Braves were able to get the job done and pick up the series win. It was by no means simple or easy but they got the job done. If they are going to pull off the upset at this point in the season and get into the playoffs, it’ll likely continue to be the opposite of simple and easy. That’s life — especially when it comes to playoff-intensity baseball and doubly so when it comes to this year’s version of the Atlanta Braves.
Weird process, good results
We’ve got to talk about Sunday’s game because it was a doozy. Grant Holmes got the start against Miami and went four innings while striking out five, giving up three hits, one walk and two runs. Again, this is the type of performance that you take from Holmes and smile while relying on your bullpen. That ended up being the case, as Dylan Lee, Pierce Johnson, Aaron Bummer, Daysbel Hernández and Raisel Iglesias all got to pitch in the series finale on Sunday.
With that being said, it was certain that Brian Snitker decided to take a different approach to how he handled the bullpen on Sunday. Holmes found himself in serious trouble in the fifth inning when the Marlins led off with a walk and a double to put runners on second and third with nobody out while the Braves were only up 3-2. That was when Dylan Lee entered the game and fortunately, he was able to put out the fire with two strikeouts and a groundout. Atlanta added a run of insurance and Lee stayed out there for the sixth inning. Sure enough, this didn’t go well for Atlanta as he gave up back-to-back homers to make it 4-4. Pierce Johnson entered and retired the Marlins in order, which really made you wonder why he didn’t just get the ball to start the frame instead of trying to get another inning out of Lee.
Aaron Bummer got the ball for the seventh and proceeded to get BABIP’d once again. He has the highest BABIP among qualified relievers in all of baseball (.388) and we saw that on full display after he gave up a bunt single in order to find himself with two men on. Once there were runners on the corners after another bunt, Bummer got Xavier Edwards to strike out. Instead of hoping that Bummer and his top-10 Ground Ball Rate could get a ground ball to get out of the inning with a double play, Snitker went with Daysbel Hernández. The good news is that Hernández was able to finish them off in order but again, it was just a strange decision to make. I suppose Snitker was probably spooked by Bummer appearing to suffer from some more bad luck and didn’t want that bad luck to cost him the game but it was still strange to hand over such a huge situation to a guy who has spent most of the season in Triple-A. Baptism by fire, I guess.
Finally, Raisel Iglesias got the ball and picked up a six-out save. Naturally this worked out because Raisel Iglesias has been incredible this season but it was still a sign that Brian Snitker is starting to shift his bullpen management with the season being on the line — for better or worse. I’m not going to sit here and say that I’m some know-it-all who knows exactly what the Braves should’ve done here but I can say that it was definitely a weird process. Fortunately, the process brought the Braves to the promised land of a victory but also at this point, I’d be shocked if we don’t see some more unusual decisions since the Braves are essentially in Playoff Mode at this point.
Offense finishes productive road trip
After finishing the final two games of their homestand with the Dodgers by scoring a grand total of two runs over two games, Atlanta didn’t exactly enter into this road trip on a wave of confidence at the plate. They put up plenty of runs against Cincinnati and while the Marlins series didn’t exactly get off to a great start, they eventually ended the series by winning two straight mostly because the offense was able to capitalize against a not-so-imposing group of Marlins pitchers. They even managed to win 5-4, which improved their record in games where the other team scored at least four runs to 11-56. That’s still shockingly bad but at least it’s not 10-57, right?
In all seriousness, it was very encouraging to see the Braves actually win one of those games and a lot of it had to do with a lot of the core players for Atlanta stepping up and getting it done on a consistent basis. Matt Olson had four hits (including a homer) and four RBIs in Miami. Michael Harris II racked up eight hits (including a triple) and three runs in order to keep the line going. Although Marcell Ozuna didn’t homer, he’s continued to get back into a rhythm at the plate after going through a slump to start September. Ozzie Albies marked his return to the lineup with a home run that got things going on Sunday. Sean Murphy — well, Sean Murphy played hard.
Either way, the big names for the Braves came through and helped Atlanta stay alive in the Wild Card race. Now granted, they’re still rank outsiders at this point to make the Postseason but they’ve still got a chance as long as they take it (more on that, later). A series win was the bare minimum requirement for Atlanta and thanks to their lineup keeping things going, they were able to meet that bare minimum goal.
This is it
So, here we are. The final week of the regular season is upon us and while the Braves are still clear outsiders to make the Postseason, they have as good of a chance as anybody else. The Mets are certainly going to be up for the task, though. They just got done taking three-out-of-four against the Phillies in order to delay Philadelphia’s divisional title celebration and they’re heating up at the right time. They’re hungry and a lot of those players will certainly have memories of September 2022 in their head as they travel to Cobb County this week.
With that being said, this is the opportunity for the Braves. Despite everything that’s happened with this team here in 2024, they’re only two games behind the Mets with three games against each other. If the Braves can hold serve and win this upcoming series, they’ll have a real shot in the final series against a Kansas City team that is absolutely limping to the finish line in their Wild Card race. If they pick up a sweep in 2022 fashion, then the Braves will really be cooking with gasoline heading into that final series against the Royals.
Either way, you don’t need me to tell you that this is the biggest series of the season by a country mile. Their Postseason lives are on the line, they’ve got their heated divisional rivals coming into town fighting for that same Postseason spot and you absolutely need a good result or else the season is likely over. This would be a perfect time for the Braves team that is currently nine games over .500 at home and 10 games over .500 against teams with winning records to show up. They’ll have their best three arms going for this series as well. Either they make it happen right here and now or it’ll be time to figure things out for 2025. I’d rather roll the dice in October, wouldn’t you?
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