Takeaways from the Atlanta Braves’ slaughtering of the Dodgers

In the past two days, the Atlanta Braves have proven that they can not only compete with the best, but can beat up on the best as well. The Dodgers have been stunned by the Braves and have no answer to Atlanta’s hot bats.

Several thoughts and takeaways about the Atlanta Braves from the last 48 hours:

Freddie Freeman is siiick!

Literally and figuratively. Freeman has a virus infection which caused him to exit the last game of the series against the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday, and is still dealing with the virus 3 days later.

Against the Dodgers, Freeman is 4-8 with 3 RBI’s, and a homer off of Alex Wood. That home run was Woods’ first home run surrendered to a left handed batter all year.

Alex Wood has finally felt defeat

Ironically, this is coming from the team that brought him to the majors.

Wood has finally lost a game this season. The Atlanta Braves mashed Alex Wood at the plate the entire 4 2/3 innings he pitched Friday night.

The most notable hit Wood gave up, was a grand slam to Jaime García.  Yes, you read that right: Jamie García hit a grand slam off of Alex Wood in the top of the 5th inning Friday night.

Wood surrendered 9 hits, 9 runs (7 earned), 4 BB, and 2 HR.  His ERA for the season moved from 1.56 up to 2.17 after the Braves routed him and his Dodgers.

Jamie García is on fire.

García’s pitching and hitting performance was absolutely phenomenal Friday night. With García performing extremely well, his trade stock for Atlanta is going to increased dramatically… never mind his hitting.

Through 7 innings on the mound, García gave up 7 hits and 3 earned runs to the red hot Dodgers; which is a really good performance against the 2nd best offensive team in baseball, behind only the Houston Astros.

The grand slam García hit off of Alex Wood in the top of the 5th inning was the second home run Alex Wood allowed to a left handed hitter of the night AND of the season. With García playing so well last night, he must really want to get traded… (Sarcasm alert).

Coppy is a mastermind!

Letting García pitch Friday night was an extremely risky move for a GM trying to trade García before the deadline. Leaving García in to pitch last night could only have one of two results:

1. García pitches poorly, the return Atlanta would have gotten in a trade for García would be less than before, and Coppy would be getting hell from every direction.
2. García pitches well, the return for trading him before the deadline would increase significantly, and Coppy would be seen as a genius by all of Braves country.

Well, it’s time to once again call Coppy a genius; quite frankly, because he is. Coppy let García pitch, and man did García put on a show in Dodger Stadium. Now, Braves fans can enjoy the boosted return Atlanta will receive if García is traded before the deadline.

Johan Camargo is blossoming before our eyes

Camargo is currently showing everyone why “You don’t mess with the Johan”. Camargo has gone 3-9 at the plate in this series, but his best moments have been in the field, rather than at the plate:

Atlanta’s catching tandem

• Thursday night, Kurt Suzuki went 2-4 with a homer and 2 RBI’s.
• Friday night, Tyler Flowers went 2-4 with a homer, 2 R, 4 RBI’s, and a BB.

We are all wishing the best for Kurt Suzuki and his family as he went onto the bereavement list to attend the funeral of his grandfather in Hawaii.

Upon learning this, I then realized just how special the homer Suzuki hit on Thursday must have meant for him, and his family.  There’s not much of a better way to win a game before attending the funeral of a family member by capping it off with a home run.

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• Alex Anthopoulos discusses the Atlanta Braves payroll, rotation, Grissom, Swanson, Acuña, and more
• Braves News: Braves 2023 rotation speculation, Correa deal on hold, more
• Atlanta Braves: Current Left Field Mix

Scoring First

Essential first inning runs are what defined Atlanta’s success in the first two games against the Dodgers. Scoring first has significantly thrown Los Angeles off of their game against the Braves, and will be the key to Atlanta’s success against the Dodgers moving forward into the remainder of the series.

Heart breakers

The Dodgers ended their 11 game win-streak by losing to Atlanta Thursday night, and the Braves handed Alex Wood his first loss of the season Friday night. What other streaks or records could Atlanta possibly break?

And even further:  what does Atlanta’s success against the Dodgers mean for the remainder of the series, and the coming series against the Arizona Diamondbacks?

Next: Braves do EOF a Solid

If Atlanta can keep up their production against top tier teams for the rest of July and into August, the chase for the wildcard will definitely be on for the Braves.