2023 Atlanta Braves

[57jacket]

from what I've seen, the Philli pitchers are offering up a ton of breakin balls, limiting the fast balls the Braves live on. And the brave pitching can't keep the score reasonable. Without a healthy Fried, they are toast unless they can score 8 runs a game.

 

[forensicbuzz]

It’s really quite amazing how putrid our “historic” offense looks right now. A buddy of mine and I were talking last night and I brought up the fact that we are the only 100+ win team left standing. It just seems like we get hot at the wrong time and we can’t put it all together when we need it the most. If we can somehow claw out a win tonight, I’ll feel better about a game 5 back home, but I just don’t know where we will get the offense from. I mean, on paper we should be able to hit Suarez and we should have a decided edge sending Strider out there. I’d even say we should have a slight edge in game 5, but our offense is MIA. I didn’t watch a single playoff game in 2021 when we won it all, and I’m thinking maybe I need to keep myself busy tonight to try and recreate that mojo….

Well, a 5 day vacation after a cooling-off period at the end of the season certainly doesn't help to keep you sharp.

 

[kg01]

from what I've seen, the Philli pitchers are offering up a ton of breakin balls, limiting the fast balls the Braves live on. And the brave pitching can't keep the score reasonable. Without a healthy Fried, they are toast unless they can score 8 runs a game.

PHI says their plan is to feed the Braves fastballs. Braves damage is being done on breaking balls.

 

[TampaBuzz]

Well, a 5 day vacation after a cooling-off period at the end of the season certainly doesn't help to keep you sharp.

Tell that to the manager.....he certainly was not sharp last night. He never, never, never should have let Elder pitch to Harper. Didn't even have someone warming up. Then it took two more batters getting on base before he finally pulled him. I can't begin to comprehend the thinking. It's the playoffs...you don't have a trusted #3 starter...treat it as a bullpen game and move on.

 

[57jacket]

PHI says their plan is to feed the Braves fastballs. Braves damage is being done on breaking balls.

Ha Ha . What damage??

 

[kg01]

Ha Ha . What damage??

Eh, I'm sensing a tone with your posts.

 

[Golden Tornadoes]

I am not giving up hope just yet. Game one was a stinker and with Wheeler and Nola starting games 2 and 3 the chance of being swept was high. We won a game with their ace pitching and Nola shut us down. We don't face either of them again this year. The Phillies, however, face our two best pitchers in games 4 and 5. If Strider and Fried can minimize the damage, we have a good shot at pulling this out.

I'm pretty sure if we win tonight, we would face Wheeler in G5.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Well, a 5 day vacation after a cooling-off period at the end of the season certainly doesn't help to keep you sharp.

As an O's fan, I think they agree too.

I like the idea of expanding the divisional playoff to 6 games with 4 wins needed to advance and the division champ starting with a 1-0 advantage. Should be something more for winning the division.

 

[FredJacket]

As an O's fan, I think they agree too.

I like the idea of expanding the divisional playoff to 6 games to 4 wins with the division champ starting with a 1-0 advantage. Should be something more for winning the division.

Funny how everyone seemed/seems to embrace the wildcard concept....still. We aren't even talking about "the good ol' days" when winning division MEANT something. That something was losers stay home. Some old ideas actually are best.

 

[Augusta_Jacket]

I'm pretty sure if we win tonight, we would face Wheeler in G5.

Probably, but after going 6+ innings on Monday I wouldn't fear him as much. It's be like us pitching Fried again that soon. Shorter rest than normal.

 

[Golden Tornadoes]

That series is completely on the offense. When your pitching staff gives up 3, 4, 10, and 3 and you can’t win three of those games, you’ve got a bat problem, not an arm problem. While the entire offense went AWOL, my biggest gripe is with Acuña. You’re the MVP and you go 2-14? That’s weak sauce no matter how you spin it. You can’t disappear in the big moments. If this team as currently constructed is going to make any noise, he’s got to play his best ball in October. Just look at Harper, that dude year in and year out saves his best ball for the postseason.

 

[awbuzz]

Three teams with the best regular season records are all out of the playoffs.

 

[FredJacket]

Three teams with the best regular season records are all out of the playoffs.

Its the 4 best records. They won 99, 100, 101, 104 regular season games and went a combined 1-11 in the playoffs. The 4 remaining teams won 90, 90, 90, & 84 games.

 

[GTJake]

0-5-2-1 ... that is unbelievable ! I'm not a huge Snitker fan, sometimes it seems he's mastered taking a nap with his eyes open during the game, but I don't think you can put this one on him.

 

[57jacket]

Big Braves fan, but you could see this coming. Yeah, the bats were silent, but the bigger concern is pitching. They need to add 2 aces in the off season.

 

[kg01]

0-5-2-1 ... that is unbelievable ! I'm not a huge Snitker fan, sometimes it seems he's mastered taking a nap with his eyes open during the game, but I don't think you can put this one on him.

This was such a predestined outcome. PHI is built for the postseason, not necessarily the regular season.

Although the series was lost by the bats, I think PHI's pitching staff outclassed the braves'... which is why the offense sputtered. Weird logic, I know. Their pitchers weren't scared at all.

 

[TampaBuzz]

I think the Philly manager won this series. He was very aggressive about running the bases; how many steals did they have in the series? He also used his closer and high leverage guys early in games to snuff out any inklingsof a rally by the Bravos. He was constantly applying pressure on the Braves and we did not respond.

 

[kg01]

Big Braves fan, but you could see this coming. Yeah, the bats were silent, but the bigger concern is pitching. They need to add 2 aces in the off season.

Should I be scared that I kinda agree with you?

They don't need aces, per se. I think a healthy Fried and Morton would've made a huge difference this series. I've seen enough of Elder, sadly.

 

[kg01]

I think the Philly manager won this series. He was very aggressive about running the bases; how many steals did they have in the series? He also used his closer and high leverage guys early in games to snuff out any inklingsof a rally by the Bravos. He was constantly applying pressure on the Braves and we did not respond.

Absolutely agree. They had a plan and executed it. Braves kinda just tried to hold on.

Honestly, I thought the series was lost when the Braves completely changed their lineup in game 1 ... for no reason. PHI manager had to know he had them at that point.

 

[GTJake]

Should I be scared that I kinda agree with you?

They don't need aces, per se. I think a healthy Fried and Morton would've made a huge difference this series. I've seen enough of Elder, sadly.

Definitely, that was definitely a bad omen going into the post season with the injuries to the starting pitching. But still, the Phillies are a Divisional team, we've played them often and are (or should be) familiar with their pitching staff, you would think the Braves hitters would recognize what they were doing and made adjustments. Over 162 games this offense mostly steam-rolled it was no fluke, so this is a tough one to figure out ... ???