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Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: Notes with a quarter of the season done

By Alan Carpenter

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - MAY 09: Mike Soroka #40 of the Atlanta Braves delivers a pitch in the first inning of the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on May 09, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - MAY 09: Mike Soroka #40 of the Atlanta Braves delivers a pitch in the first inning of the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on May 09, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images) /
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PHOENIX, ARIZONA – MAY 12: Charlie Culberson #8 of the Atlanta Braves gets out of the way of an inside pitch during the second inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on May 12, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, ARIZONA – MAY 12: Charlie Culberson #8 of the Atlanta Braves gets out of the way of an inside pitch during the second inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on May 12, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) /

Sunday’s game with Arizona marked the 41st game of 2019 – a quarter of the season is done.  What do we know and what have we learned?

Max Fried ran a high-wire act with some Houdini-esque escapes on Sunday in getting through 5 innings as part of a total team effort win and 6-4 road trip.  Aside from that, there’s a few things that continue to be working themselves out in favor of the Atlanta Braves so far in 2019.

Let’s check out a few of them.

NL EAST

  • The Phillies (23-16) seem to be getting themselves figured out.  In their last 5 series’, they have lost only – and exactly – 1 game in all of them.
    • Sure: some of these came against “easy” teams (Marlins, Tigers, Royals).  But they also beat up on the Cardinals and Nationals (winning 4 of 6).
    • They have Milwaukee (twice), Colorado, the Cubs, the Cards and the Dodgers coming up through the end of the month.  We’ll know just how good they are by then.
  • The Mets (19-20) are a bit behind other teams in terms of games played – now at 19-20.  Those games to be made up could impact them negatively later on.
    • They held ‘crisis meetings’ this week after a recent mini-slide.  A bit odd for a team just 1 game below .500, so it’s fair to think there’s some knee-jerk reactionism going on.  Interesting.
    • They stand 13th in team WAR in the majors (Atlanta is 8th).  Oddly enough, their pitching WAR is “only” 12th.
  • The Nationals (16-24) are scuffling badly with some already calling for the head of manager Dave Martinez… even though the problem is that Trea Turner and Anthony Rodon haven’t on the field enough and the rest of the team can’t play defense.

How do we assess these Atlanta Braves, then?

  • They caught the Cubs as a great time, sweeping them, and took out Cleveland 2 games to 1.
  • They caught the best (0-3) and the worst (2-0) of the Rockies.
  • They are mostly beating the teams they should beat (mostly the Marlins… 5-1)
    • Then again, the Reds won that series 2 games to 1.
  • They’ve managed a 21-20 record despite some scuffling starters and a bullpen that has been in audition mode for nearly the whole campaign thus far.
  • Atlanta has yet to face the Nationals.  Would honestly have been nice had that already happened a couple of times, given their struggles.  That will finally happen on May 28 and 29.
  • In mid-June, things will get more interesting:
    • JUN 14-16 Phillies
    • JUN 17-19 Mets
    • JUN 21-23 Nationals
    • JUN 24-27 Cubs
    • JUN 28-30 Mets
    • JUL 2-4 Phillies
    • That gauntlet will likely be the key to know how busy Alex Anthopoulos will be at the trade deadline.
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