Entering the postseason, and essentially throughout most of the 2020 regular season, we read about how bad the Braves starting rotation was. Hell, I wrote about how bad they were. Although reading about it wasn’t even necessary. All you needed to do was watch a game or two. Just check out the proof, featuring the
For those of you unable to watch Tuesday’s opening game of the NLDS live (this 2 PM time slot is insane!), the Braves offense came up big and beat Miami 9-5. Chase provided the recap shortly after the game, but today, I wanted to revisit perhaps the most popular storyline from yesterday’s matchup: Ronald Acuna Jr. homered
At just 31-years-old and currently amid an incredible prime, forecasting something as far down the road as the Hall of Fame seems a bit senseless. However, Freddie Freeman’s 2020 performance perhaps warrants an updated discussion. Tied for the most FanGraphs WAR during the regular season, the first baseman could become the first Brave to win an MVP award since
We finally made it to the series we’ve really been waiting for: the National League Division Series, a five-game series the Braves have lost eight consecutive times now (last NLDS win came in 2001). Boy, could this team use a three-game sweep this week (and I’m not just asking for the starting rotation’s sake). However,
Leading up to the 2017 season (the final year of the rebuild), according to the folks at FanGraphs, five of the Braves ten-best prospects at the time were pitchers: #4 Kolby Allard, #6 Ian Anderson, #7 Max Fried, #8 Luiz Gohara, #9 Mike Soroka. Since then, three of those arms above have paid off and logged above-average innings
Heading into the 2020 season, many believed the Braves lineup had a chance to be great, and for good reason. Save for a departed Josh Donaldson, essentially every player from 2019’s top-five lineup was set to return, and even Donaldson’s absence wasn’t expected to hurt too much given the team signed free agent outfielder Marcell
Many may feel as if the other shoe will soon drop, as the Braves have now successfully completed back-to-back games without a complete meltdown from its starting rotation. In Game 1 of the Wild Card Series round versus the Reds, Max Fried pitched seven efficient innings and allowed six hits with five strikeouts and no
Very few pitchers ever recover from the yips or at least make it back to the majors. But despite a five-year absence from pitching in the bigs, 29-year-old lefty Tyler Matzek not only rebounded from his severe stint of performance anxiety but this season, he’s been the Braves best reliever. The Braves signed Matzek —
The last time the Braves faced the Reds in the postseason was the 1995 campaign, which, save for the one just completed this past Sunday, was MLB’s most-recent shortened season. The ’95 season featured a lot more games (144) than in 2020, not to mention a very different style of baseball in general. Still, for
The Braves concluded their 2020 regular season by losing three of their last four games as starting pitching struggles again popped up and the offense combined to tally just 13 hits over the final two contests. Sitting the regulars can make for a poor ending to the year, but it’s very necessary (just look at what
