Month: April 2022

Takeaways From Braves’ First Road Trip:

After all the World Series celebrations came to a close, the Braves took their first road trip of the season. It was against two very good teams: the San Diego Padres and the Los Angelas Dodgers. Obviously, the most anxiously awaited series was the Braves and Dodgers because Atlanta would see Freddie Freeman for the first time in a different jersey. Watching the games, you could definitely tell there were emotions from both sides, but at the end of the day it’s baseball and things like this happen. Freddie Freeman hit two home runs against the Braves, and we got to feel the impact of having him on another team… he is definitely one tough batter to get out!

Atlanta split the series with the Padres 2-2 and lost the series 2-1 against the Dodgers. The Braves showed some improvement in areas, but they still need to figure out consistent hitting and get the starting rotation completely under control.

MY TAKEAWAYS:

  • Ian Anderson and Max Fried both showed significant improvement in their second starts. Ian pitched 5.2 innings, only allowed 2 hits, one run, had one walk, seven strikeouts, and he threw 89 pitches. This was an amazing bounce-back from his first outing. He was dominate on the mound and seemed much more comfortable out there.
  • Same goes for Max Fried. He looked completely different on the mound compared to his previous starts. He pitched seven SCORELESS innings, allowed only two hits, zero walks, and had seven strikeouts! His command of all his pitches was so much better and he looked more comfortable on the mound and was in control of the baseball, being able make his pitches and get the ball on the ground. It was very nice to see him AND Ian Anderson pitch like we know they are capable of doing!
  • Charle Morton. He did SO well in his first start of the season, but he got beat up big time on this road trip. Once by the Padres and by the Dodgers. It looks like he doesn’t have command of his pitches right now, and he’s trying to re-figure them out. Last season we got so used to the ace Charlie Morton, but if you remember… at the start of the last season he didn’t pitch fantastic. So maybe it just takes him some time to fully regain his mound presence and pitches.
  • The Atlanta Braves are a very powerful team and we know for a FACT that they can hit…they just can’t seem to get consecutive hits right now!!! Matt Olson is the only Braves player who can seem to get on base multiple at-bats in a row. Ozzie Albies has started to break through, he hit four home runs on the road trip and had multiple base hits, but other than him and Olson, everyone else is hit-or-miss (literally). The Braves can’t seem to get more than two wins in a row either, and now that pitching is starting to come together more…it’s going to be up to the offense to come through.

You might be saying to yourself, “The Braves have hit a lot of home runs this year…so why don’t they have a better record than 6-8?” Well, that’s because 15 out of the 16 home runs the Atlanta hitters have hit have been solo shots. The only home run hit with baserunners was a 2-run shot on opening day by Austin Riley. Other than that, the Braves are having a hard time hitting these home runs with people on base. And trust me, they have had plenty of times to score more runners, but in those moments, we seem to either strike out or hit into a double play.

I’d say the Braves biggest priority is hitting with runners on base. You can’t win ballgames without scoring, and it’s going to take more than a couple solo home runs to win a baseball game. All the teams in and out of the National League East have gotten better this year, and it is going to be a long ride if Atlanta can’t figure their hitting situation out.

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Although they still have some things to work out, I’m sure it won’t be too too long until they start being the Atlanta Braves team we are so used to seeing!

GO BRAVES!!

My Takeaways From Opening Day Weekend:

Let’s Play Ball!

This was a great Opening Day Weekend, especially for the Atlanta Braves! They got to start the season at home, which included even more World Series events: the pennant unveiling, the award ceremony, and of course, the World Series Ring presentation. The Braves and the Cincinnati Reds split the four-game series 2-2. Overall it was a good weekend, but like anything, there are still a few questions to be answered and things to be worked on.

THE POSITIVES:

  • Charlie Morton pitched very well in his return from fracturing his leg last year in Game One of the World Series. He pitched 5.1 innings, allowed only two hits, two runs, one walk, and he had five strikeouts. He also threw a total of 78 pitches. It was very good to see Morton come back the way he did. It was as if he didn’t miss a beat. He was still the same old calm, cool, and collective Charlie Morton out there on the mound. Him being in the rotation is something the Braves are going to need.
  • Kyle Wright had an impressive start. There have been a lot of questions regarding the Braves starting rotation, but I believe Wright showed that he is capable of being the fourth man in the rotation. He threw six scoreless innings, only allowing two hits and one walk. He also struck out six Reds batters. Overall he had a very impressive start, and proved he can be something that the Braves can use.
  • Matt Olson really came into his role as a Brave in this series. With it being Opening Day Weekend, I’m sure he had some nerves coming into the first game. Not only with him being the first new first baseman that the Braves fanbase had seen in over 10 years, but also that he was playing in his hometown – FOR his hometown. It’s safe to say he is fitting in very well. In 14 at-bats, Olson has had eight hits, one of which was a home run, and he walked three times. He has also made some very nice plays at first base.

THE NEGATIVES:

  • Although Charlie Morton and Kyle Wright pitched well in their appearances, Max Fried and Ian Anderson didn’t do so well. On Opening Day, Fried was the starter. He pitched 5.2 innings, allowed eight hits, five runs, one walk, and five strikeouts. These are not the figures we are used to seeing from Max Fried. He pitched a good first inning, but after that, it was like he lost control of the baseball and couldn’t find his release point. And then, when he finally found it, the Cincinnati hitter were all over that baseball.
  • Ian Anderson was a similar story. He threw only 2.2 innings, allowed three hits, five runs, five walks, had only one strikeout, and he threw 74 pitches. 74 pitches in 2.2 innings is NOT what you want from a starting pitcher. For his first outing, he had no command of the strike zone, he couldn’t hit his spots, and ended up with more walks than hits. Anderson has good stuff, he just throws too many balls, and that is what gets him in trouble. To me, what he needs to work on this season is having a better command of the strike zone, and limiting the amount of pitches he throws.
  • Hitting. Something we know the Atlanta Braves can do very well. But, for whatever reason, they cannot seem to get many hits together so far this season. Yes, they’ll get multiple hits a game, but they are never with runners on base. Last season, the Braves were SO good at scoring with two outs. So far this season that has not been the case. Maybe they are just on an all-time high right now with all the World Series festivities, but sooner or later they are going to have to start coming through in run-scoring opportunities.

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With all this to be said, the Atlanta Braves are still a very good team with very good potential this season. Once they get everything going, they are going to be very hard to stop!

2021 World Series Champs

GO BRAVES!