<img alt="Wild Card Series - Atlanta Braves v. San Diego Padres - Game Two" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_LQsEcRTFBbYBWbQfzsgE3V3s8c=/0x0:3130x2087/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73653163/2175520610.0.jpg">
Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images
Without Atlanta in the 2024 postseason it is hard to get excited the LCS. When the 2024 season ended in San Diego, with the Atlanta Braves losing 5-4 to the Padres, it almost felt like a relief.
Is that weird?
This season was one of the most frustratingly rewarding season in the history of the franchise - at least during its six decades in Atlanta.
The team had to scratch and claw to make the postseason having to win game 162 - the second game of a double-header caused by one of the most destructive hurricanes to ever hit the region - just to get into the dance. So when the offense couldn’t overcome the runs given up by Atlanta’s starting pitchers in the National League Wild Card Series the letdown didn’t feel as bad as maybe it should have felt.
We all know one of the biggest reasons why. Injuries. Any article written, any podcast recorded, any conversation had between two Atlanta Braves fans will start and end with injuries.
It is the elegy of this season.
What if Spencer Strider had pitched all season? What if Ronald Acuńa, Jr. wasn’t lost for the season? What if Austin Riley and Michael Harris II hadn’t missed 50 games? What is Ozzie Albies hadn’t missed 60?
If you had told anyone, on March 11, 2024 that the team’s starting line-up on September 11, 2024 would have included Jorge Soler in right field, Ramon Laureano in left field, Gio Urshela at third base and Cavan Biggio at second base, the response you would have received would include a number of profane words and lot of questions about what in the world happened for the team to employee those guys.
The playoffs trot on and if you are a diehard baseball fan maybe you are watching as much as you can. Or maybe when the Braves 2024 season ended yours did, too.
The week-or-so after the Braves exited the playoffs had been quiet. Then the unexpected coaching shake-up last week sent a shock-wave through the fan base. Was it an omen of things to come? We are in the spooky season, after all.
With the League Championship series in both the National and American Leagues underway, there interesting story lines at a national level for MLB. Are you interested in seeing the New York Yankees, Cleveland Guardians, New York Mets or Los Angeles Dodgers advancing to the World Series?
Yeah, me either.
As the northern winds bring in cooler air to Braves Country, one has to wonder if the winds of change will blow across the roster bringing significant alterations this off-season. Outside of William Contreras, most of the outgoing roster this decade has been from free agent attrition. Will that trend continue with Max Fried, A.J. Minter and maybe Charlie Morton (if he doesn’t retire), finding new homes in 2025? Or will this be the year that major parts of the line-up are moved out via a trade?
There is a lot to ponder.
That metaphorical championship window we all talk about is still open for Atlanta - and should be for at least the next few years - but the patience that many of us cajoled ourselves into believing after the last few disappointing seasons suddenly begin to feel more like anxiety and regret creeping up from behind.
Is that too dire of a mindset? Possibly.
There still a lot to be optimistic about given all the challenges that 2024 brought to Atlanta. Despite it all, the Braves still won 89 games and can bring back all the key position players and has a number of young arms that seem prime to help the team at the big league level next season.
Maybe that was relief at the end of this year’s campaign based on the assumption that next year can not be an unlucky as this season was.
For now, all we can do is wait and hope for a better 2025. Because without the Braves, the crack of the bat seems a lot more hollow than it does when Atlanta is one of the final four teams left standing.
<img alt="Wild Card Series - Atlanta Braves v. San Diego Padres - Game Two" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_LQsEcRTFBbYBWbQfzsgE3V3s8c=/0x0:3130x2087/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73653163/2175520610.0.jpg">
Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images
Without Atlanta in the 2024 postseason it is hard to get excited the LCS. When the 2024 season ended in San Diego, with the Atlanta Braves losing 5-4 to the Padres, it almost felt like a relief.
Is that weird?
This season was one of the most frustratingly rewarding season in the history of the franchise - at least during its six decades in Atlanta.
The team had to scratch and claw to make the postseason having to win game 162 - the second game of a double-header caused by one of the most destructive hurricanes to ever hit the region - just to get into the dance. So when the offense couldn’t overcome the runs given up by Atlanta’s starting pitchers in the National League Wild Card Series the letdown didn’t feel as bad as maybe it should have felt.
We all know one of the biggest reasons why. Injuries. Any article written, any podcast recorded, any conversation had between two Atlanta Braves fans will start and end with injuries.
It is the elegy of this season.
What if Spencer Strider had pitched all season? What if Ronald Acuńa, Jr. wasn’t lost for the season? What if Austin Riley and Michael Harris II hadn’t missed 50 games? What is Ozzie Albies hadn’t missed 60?
If you had told anyone, on March 11, 2024 that the team’s starting line-up on September 11, 2024 would have included Jorge Soler in right field, Ramon Laureano in left field, Gio Urshela at third base and Cavan Biggio at second base, the response you would have received would include a number of profane words and lot of questions about what in the world happened for the team to employee those guys.
The playoffs trot on and if you are a diehard baseball fan maybe you are watching as much as you can. Or maybe when the Braves 2024 season ended yours did, too.
The week-or-so after the Braves exited the playoffs had been quiet. Then the unexpected coaching shake-up last week sent a shock-wave through the fan base. Was it an omen of things to come? We are in the spooky season, after all.
With the League Championship series in both the National and American Leagues underway, there interesting story lines at a national level for MLB. Are you interested in seeing the New York Yankees, Cleveland Guardians, New York Mets or Los Angeles Dodgers advancing to the World Series?
Yeah, me either.
As the northern winds bring in cooler air to Braves Country, one has to wonder if the winds of change will blow across the roster bringing significant alterations this off-season. Outside of William Contreras, most of the outgoing roster this decade has been from free agent attrition. Will that trend continue with Max Fried, A.J. Minter and maybe Charlie Morton (if he doesn’t retire), finding new homes in 2025? Or will this be the year that major parts of the line-up are moved out via a trade?
There is a lot to ponder.
That metaphorical championship window we all talk about is still open for Atlanta - and should be for at least the next few years - but the patience that many of us cajoled ourselves into believing after the last few disappointing seasons suddenly begin to feel more like anxiety and regret creeping up from behind.
Is that too dire of a mindset? Possibly.
There still a lot to be optimistic about given all the challenges that 2024 brought to Atlanta. Despite it all, the Braves still won 89 games and can bring back all the key position players and has a number of young arms that seem prime to help the team at the big league level next season.
Maybe that was relief at the end of this year’s campaign based on the assumption that next year can not be an unlucky as this season was.
For now, all we can do is wait and hope for a better 2025. Because without the Braves, the crack of the bat seems a lot more hollow than it does when Atlanta is one of the final four teams left standing.
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