Tag: Respect Atlanta

Braves Injury Update:

There have been a lot of injuries for the Atlanta Braves in the 2023 season, especially to the starting rotation and the bullpen. While injuries are not good for a team, you could consider the Braves “lucky” that they have had all of these injuries happen earlier in the season instead of September when Postseason baseball is right around the corner.

Ozzie Albies- left hamstring strain:

Albies strained his hamstring on August 13th up in New York against the Mets. The Braves said it wasn’t a severe injury, but they weren’t taking any chances with their All-Star second baseman who is such a key component to this team. Coming up to this game, Ozzie Albies had played in all 117 games this season. He is such a good player, and while Nicky Lopez and Vaughn Grissom have done a good job a second base, it just isn’t the same without Ozzie out there.

Albies’ 10-day IL period is up, and he is available to play tonight (August 25th) against the San Fransisco Giants. However, the Braves coaching staff have chosen not to start him in tonight’s game. That’s a huge bummer. But I can almost guarantee you that Ozzie is dying to get back out on the baseball field and will do just about anything to be in the lineup for the Braves!

Kyle Wright- right shoulder strain:

I am pleased to say that Kyle Wright threw his first rehab start on August 23rd with the Rome Braves! He threw 26 pitches over 3.0 innings with zero earned runs, no walks, four strikeouts, and only one hit.

Wright has been on the Injured List since early May. He had shoulder discomfort in Spring Training which led to a delayed start to the 2023 season with the hopes that he would be healed enough to pitch for the Braves. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

However, it is SO good to see promising numbers from Wright in his first rehab start. I am sure that it has been hard for him having to sit in the dugout day in and day out while the rest of his teammates are getting to play the game they all love. Yes, the Braves are going to be cautious with Kyle Wright and give him plenty of rehab starts to make sure that he is ready to go, but Wright is getting healthy at the right time and this is a good sign for the Braves!

Jesse Chavez- left shin contusion:

Jesse Chavez has been on the Injured List since June 14th when he was hit with a comebacker against the Tigers. He has been cleared to throw off the mound and has been doing workouts with the team, but it seems like he is still a couple weeks away, at the least, from returning to the Braves. His leg is still giving him discomfort, and the Braves’ training staff doesn’t want to create further injury to Chavez’s leg by bringing him back to pitch until he is 100%.

Chavez has been such a key component of this Atlanta Braves team. He is the one that the Braves could always count on coming out of the bullpen. Hopefully he will be back soon, and he will help strengthen this powerful Braves team.

Dylan Lee- left shoulder inflammation:

Like Kyle Wright, Dylan Lee has also been on the Injured list since early May with a shoulder problem. Lee, however, has made three rehab starts with the Gwinnett Stripers. Over those three rehab starts he pitched 3.0 scoreless innings only allowing one baserunner which came via the walk. This is an encouraging sign.

The next step for Dylan Lee in his rehab process would be to pitch multiple innings in one game, and then pitch to back to back games. Lee is one of the guys that Brian Snitker relies on heavily. So being able to perform well in consecutive innings and back to back starts will be crucial for Dylan Lee before he makes his return.

Yonny Chirinos- right elbow inflammation:

After only making 5 starts for the Atlanta Braves, Yonny Chirinos went on the Injured List. Granted, Chirinos has not done well with the Braves posting a 9.27 ERA over those 5 starts, but it is still a loss to have a player go on the IL. The Braves will give him the time needed to heal, and hopefully, during his rehab starts he will get into a rhythm again and start to pitch well.

Sam Hilliard- right heel contusion:

Sam Hilliard went on the Injured List on July 19th, after jamming his right foot into the first base bag on the night before. Hilliard actually began his rehab assignment on August 1st with the Gwinnett Stripers. Unfortunately, Hilliard re-injured his heel on August 5th during one of his rehab assignments. This was a big blow for him personally, and now it is unsure if he will get to play in the reminder of the season.

Obviously, you hate for any player to be hurt. But the Braves do have a strong bench right now with Kevin Pillar and Nicky Lopez, so they don’t have to feel rushed into getting Hilliard healthy in time for the Postseason.

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Yes, I know. That is a LOT of injuries -especially to pitchers- and I didn’t even cover all of the team’s ailments. But to me, despite all of the set-backs, this just shows how relentless the Atlanta Braves are. They have not let their injuries determine how they play on a daily basis. They still go out there every night and give every inning their all… and it has paid off. The Braves still lead all of Major League Baseball in wins with 82. Not to mention they’re still atop the National League East by 13.5 games.

It’s been quite a season for the Braves, and I’m excited to continue to watch them succeed!

GO BRAVES!!

THE ATLANTA BRAVES: WORLD SERIES CHAMPS!!!

Ahh. This is really happening!!! The Atlanta Braves, despite all the doubters, injuries, and rough times they went through, are the 2021 World Series Champions. It definitely did not come easily for the Braves, but the fight they went through every single game, to get to where they were and to be World Champs, makes this end result even sweeter.

Think about it. The Atlanta Braves were under .500 until after the All-Star Break. They learned they weren’t getting Soroka back, they lost Acuña to a torn ACL, lost Marcell Ozuna due to legal matters, and had Travis d’Arnaud and Huascar Ynoa on the injured list for who knew how long. Did the Braves take that punch in the gut as a defeat? Absolutely not.

Atlanta played even better, stronger, more determined baseball than they had in a long time. Not to mention, the Braves front office went and gained Joc Pederson, Jorge Soler, Adam Duvall, and Eddie Rosario to rebuild their outfield and their offense. I cannot say it enough: EVERY SINGLE ONE of those guys came through in a HUGE way for the Braves. Not only during the second half of the regular season, but into and throughout the postseason. From Joc Pederson coming up clutch in the NLDS, Eddie Rosario being the NLCS MVP, Adam Duvall’s great defense and grand slam, to Jorge Soler’s power – earning him the World Series MVP – they all provided exactly what the Braves needed and so much more.

Two Key Factors From the World Series For the Braves:

  • Relief Pitching:

This Braves relief staff played a HUGE role in this postseason, and, especially, in the World Series. The only Atlanta starter to go more than five innings, was Max Fried in game six. That was the last game they played! That means the bullpen had to cover a lot of middle innings. And those bullpen arms did a fantastic job. Tyler Matzek most notably was very impressive. In the World Series he pitched over five innings, only allowed one run, six hits and ZERO walks. Those are some impressive numbers! Will Smith was also great for the Braves in the World Series. Smith pitched eleven innings, and had an ERA of ZERO. ZERO!! He was lights out for the Braves and that is exactly what Brian Snitker needed out of him. Overall the whole bullpen was good for Atlanta, but these two really stepped up and it played a huge role for the Braves.

  • Offensive Rallies:

Throughout the 2021 regular season, we would see over and over again the struggles the Atlanta Braves would have trying to get runners in scoring position and actually scoring them. But, as it came October and into the postseason things started clicking for the Braves’ offense. Yes, in the NLDS and into the NLCS, and even some in the World Series, they still had some trouble scoring. However, it was no where near like the troubles they had back in the regular season. The Atlanta Braves scored a total of 25 runs in the World Series. Not to mention, they hit eleven home runs. So yes, we can say that offensively they were quite put together.

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In the end, all of that bullpen pitching and offensive spark led the Braves to a World Series title. But what helped the most to get them there was determination. Knowing how good of a team they are and feeding off of that energy. They chose not to let all of the bad that had happened and the discouraging stats get into their head. They played every game like it was their last, and it paid off tremendously.

Can’t wait for next season!

Atlanta Braves forever and ever!

Go Ozzie! #1

BRAVES ARE NL CHAMPIONS!!

Wow. This is really happening!!!! The Atlanta Braves are in the World Series!! Words cannot begin to describe how exciting this is, and I can’t even imagine how pumped the entire Braves team and coaching staff is. The staff has every reason to be this excited because this is Atlanta’s first World Series appearance since 1999. That was 22 years ago! It was HUGE for the Braves to make it to the World Series, but now that they have made it…they have a bigger goal on their minds. 🙂

Where in the world would this team be without Eddie Rosario?!? It’s safe to say that Atlanta would not have had the success in the NLCS that they had without Rosario. He had a total of 14 hits, three home runs, a walk off, and nine RBI’s. That is insane! Rosario came to the Braves as an injured player…he was unable to play. However, this acquisition for the Atlanta Braves came through big time, even if they had to wait a little while before Eddie could actually play. But when he could play for this Braves team, we quickly realized he was worth the wait. Not only could he make some good plays in left field, but man…he can hit! His bat provided some series pop for Atlanta’s offense.

This entire NLCS was huge for the Braves. They were playing the LA Dodgers, who beat them in last year’s NLCS with a disappointing game seven. LA went on to win the World Series in 2020. Brian Snitker’s Braves wanted NONE of that this year. Yes, the Dodgers had gotten Max Scherzer and Trea Turner from the Nationals, and arguably they had one of the best pitching staffs in all of MLB. BUT that did not scare Atlanta. In fact, the Braves’ hitters beat up on all three of LA’s aces –Max Scherzer, Julio Urías, and Walker Buehler. That is very impressive because usually those guys are un-hittable. *Clayton Kershaw was not on the postseason roster due to injury.

The Atlanta Braves had two walk-offs; one in game one by Austin Riley, and the other in game two, by Eddie Rosario. Both walk-off singles came in the bottom of the ninth inning and sent Truist Park into a frenzy! Those were just two of the incredible hits the Braves had in moments where they needed them most.

Starting pitching wasn’t as great as expected, but the bullpen was beyond impressive. Except for the one home run that Luke Jackson gave up to Cody Bellinger in game three, Atlanta’s bullpen was, pretty much lights-out. We have to give SO much credit to Tyler Matzek. Every single time he came out of that bullpen for the Braves, he was on point. You could tell from his expression on the mound and the accuracy of his pitches that he was zoned in. Another pitcher who was great from the bullpen was closer Will Smith. Smith had a rollercoaster regular season as the Braves closer. It seemed that every time he was on the mound, he got himself into a situation that did not look good. He was TOTALLY different in the postseaon. In almost every appearance he was three up, three down. He did give up an occasional walk or single, but nothing too serious or nerve-wracking. Bullpen pitching was crucial to the Atlanta Braves in this series, and the pitchers coming out of our bullpen, did not disappoint.

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It is still hard to grasp that after everything that this Braves team has gone through in 2021 (losing Acuña not getting Soroka back, staying at .500 for the longest time) they did not give up for one second. And now, all that hard work and perseverance has paid off. Atlanta is the National League Champs! They beat the Los Angelas Dodgers in six games, at home in Truist Park, and are now headed to the World Series where they will face the Houston Astros to see who will win the title of World Series Champs.

GO BRAVES!

The Atlanta Braves Clinch the NL East For the FOURTH Year in a Row!!

Wow! What a series this was, and what a season this has been for our Atlanta Braves. So many things led up to this fourth annual Division Title. And I feel this was the most rewarding of them all.

When the Braves lost Ronald Acuña Jr. on July 11 with a torn ACL, so many people gave up hope on Atlanta saying, “How can we win without Acuña?”. Let me tell you…my faith in what these Atlanta Braves can do did not waver one bit. If anything, I felt that since so many people gave up on the Braves, that they would be even better and knock everyone’s socks off with how good they could be. Atlanta definitely proved every single one of those doubters wrong! 🙂

When you think about how the Braves got to this clinch there are so many things that come to mind. But I firmly believe the most significant of those is all the trade deadline deals made by Alex Anthpoulos, the Atlanta Braves general manager. He went out and got Joc Pederson, Adam Duvall, Jorge Soler, Richard Rodriguez, Stephen Vogt, and Eddie Rosario. Joc Pederson came earlier in the season, but he has still played a big part in this comeback season for Atlanta.

After the deadline and the new players started playing for the Braves, it was like things just started to click. In August, Atlanta won nine games in a row and didn’t look back. In those nine games, the Braves went from being in fourth place in the NL East standings, to being in first place. That is HUGE!

Once the Braves got to first place, it still wasn’t easy. The Mets had gone on a losing streak, but the Philadelphia Phillies had gotten hot fast and were in second place in the division and kept the race interesting. I think it made their clinch even better for it to be against the Phillies – their biggest rivals. For the Atlanta Braves to have gone through everything that they went through, to fight their way back into the division race and maintain first place, this was a very memorable game and season for the Braves.

I can’t wait to see what the Postseason has in store for them!!