The Braves came into the weekend with a perfect opportunity to really make things interesting in the NL East for the first time since May. Following Friday’s win over Miami, the Braves fourth win in a row, Atlanta had cut the gap between them and the first-place Phillies to just five games. With two more games remaining against a lowly Miami squad, and Philadelphia out west to take on a Mariners team fighting for a spot in the postseason, a 3-4 game deficit in the NL East entering the new week seemed almost likely.
Unfortunately, that won’t be the case, as the Braves offense — which has been the Achilles’ heel of the club for essentially the entire season — sputtered against a Marlins pitching staff that has been battered by injuries and just watched several players exit via the trade deadline.
On Saturday, the Braves jumped out to a 3-1 lead through the first three innings. They didn’t score the remainder of the game and went on to lose 4-3. Sunday was more of the same from the offense. Max Fried, who was making his return from a forearm injury, and the Braves pitching staff didn’t give the bats much help. But it wouldn’t have mattered, as Edward Cabrera and his nearly 7.00 ERA, along with three relievers, put together nine innings of shutout ball.
That is 15 straight scoreless innings for the Braves, a reminder that even though the Phillies are amid their worst stretch of baseball all season, this is still a team littered with holes that aren’t going to just disappear overnight. Holes that could have been better addressed at the trade deadline.
Jorge Soler was a quality addition, but the Braves offense wasn’t just one guy away from flipping a switch. At the 2021 trade deadline, Alex Anthopoulos went out and acquired four outfielders, and that offense was performing much better than this year’s team.
Sure, the expanded playoffs have created a much different dynamic than in year’s past. It was a seller’s market and some of the prices for quality talent were rather absurd, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t upgrades out there that could have been had for a reasonable price, just look at the prospect capital it took to acquire Jorge Soler, a prospect not even ranked in the Braves top 30.
The Braves are relying heavily on their injured players — Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris II — to return down the stretch and make an impact. Those two are far better than anything they could have acquired at the trade deadline. But it doesn’t excuse the fact that this is a club fighting for its playoff life and is trotting out guys like Eddie Rosario, Jarred Kelenic, Whit Merrifield and Adam Duvall to play everyday.
Michael Harris isn’t expected back until mid-August at the earliest. Ozzie Albies won’t return until mid-September. By that point, who knows where the Braves might be in the Wild Card race? Atlanta has a pitching staff more than capable of leading them on a run in the postseason. However, they may not even get a chance due to the lack of additions at the trade deadline.
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Photo: David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire
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