Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: a possible October foreshadowing

The good news is that the Braves exit this test against the Rockies still in 1st place. The bad news is that there could be a question about their capabilities for October.

The Atlanta Braves dropped 4 games to the Rockies by scores of 5-3, 11-5, 5-3, and 4-2. Was this a “statement” series by the Rockies? Was it a ‘find a ledge to jump from’ event?

Maybe you could chalk this up to just a bad weekend… some poor pitching and some poor hitting combining to lead to a sweep. Or was it more than that?

I would argue that the answer to these questions is ‘no’ – you might attach such labels when consistent domination occurs, but that wasn’t exactly the case:

Here’s a slightly deeper look:

Two games were lost via near-epic comebacks by the Rockies.
- THURS: Down by 1, Colorado gets a gift error by Dansby Swanson. With 2 outs, runners were on 2nd and 3rd. A hit plated 1 of them; a later hit scored 2 more.
- SAT: This was worse. 3-0 lead, no runners on. The Rockies then go double, single, double, single in succession against A.J. Minter. 2 more in the 10th seals the Braves’ fate.
Sunday: the Braves could only muster 6 hits and 2 runs.

Friday – okay, that was a blowout. These things will happen. The others could truly have gone in different directions, though. That’s certainly true about the blown 9th inning leads. But Sunday was close in some other ways – notably the 1st inning.

Ronald Acuna just missed a home run during his first AB, resulting in a catch in deep center field.
Freddie Freeman missed a home run by about the diameter of the baseball. He was knocked in, but the Braves failed to add on in that 1st inning – stranding Nick Markakis at third base.

It’s easy to surmise that having Acuna at least reach base in that 1st inning could have been the key to the crooked number that the Braves desperately needed. But afterwards, German Marquez settled in for the afternoon. The only chance the Braves had was really in that first inning.

You could also argue that the hitting didn’t exactly shine all weekend, but there may be a bit of shaken confidence in the bullpen as well:

Brad Brach: he was unable to quell the damage on Thursday – no earned runs thanks to the error, but 3 were scored on his watch. On Sunday, he allowed the final insurance run, giving up 3 hits in the process.
A.J. Minter: 2 outs were easy on Saturday. The last one eluded him. Even after 2 strikes.

Better News

Aside from all that, the starting pitching mostly held serve:

Teheran: 2 runs allowed in 7 innings
Foltynewicz: No runs allowed in 7 innings. Also no walks, 9K.
Sanchez: 3 runs allowed in nearly 7 innings

Only Sean Newcomb struggled… and even that isn’t a universal statement as Colorado scored in bunches: 3 runs in the 3rd; 4 more in the 6th.

So … no: this really was not one team over-matching another. It was moments of weak fielding and relief pitching with significant luck aspects as well.

Sure: the Braves need to have the killer instinct required to finish off these victories. That is going to be necessary for them to navigate the schedule that remains… pretty much for the remainder of the regular season. it will also be required to get them to the payoffs (see below as well).

But let’s not over-react to a set of relatively isolated circumstances that conspired together to keep Atlanta from padding a lead this weekend.

Objects in your mirror…

Meanwhile, things are definitely getting dicey behind the Braves.

With Philadelphia’s egg-laying while hosting the Mets, they are now part of a three-way tie for the (2) Wild Card slots… with St. Louis merely a half-game behind this Phils/Rockies/Brewers triumvirate.

The Dodgers – with (easily) the NL’s best run differential – are 1.5 back but generally struggling a bit themselves.

Separation has occurred now with these 5 teams all being bunched together and no other club currently within 5 games of the front-runners.

More from Tomahawk Take

Arizona and the Braves are just a half-game ahead, so in truth, every playoff spot is completely up for grabs. Even the Cubs’ 3.5 game lead isn’t exactly secure after they just dropped 2 in a row to a desperate Pittsburgh club.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE:

@ PIRATES (3)
@ MARLINS (4)
RAYS (2)
CUBS (1)
PIRATES (3)*
RED SOX (3)

* The playoff-eligibility trade deadline happens on the 1st day of this series. Waivers-required trades can be executed in September, but with the stipulation that players acquired cannot be used in post-season play.

Next. About that relief pitching.... dark

Game time Monday evening is 7:05pm at PNC Park. Kevin Gausman and Chris Archer. That oughta be a fun matchup.

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