The Tilt
48-30 and You're All Acting Like the Season Is Over
Every national outlet published the same article this week. The Braves are in crisis. The Braves have a 6.5-game lead.
Four Empty Chairs and a 48-Win Lie
The Braves have the best record in the National League. Their rotation has posted a 6.53 ERA over the last eleven games. Both of those sentences are true, and only one of them matters in October.
Fifteen Strikeouts and Five Walks Tell the Same Story
Grant Holmes threw a career-high 15 strikeouts against Colorado on June 15. One week later, he walked five batters in 4.2 innings at Petco Park. Both starts belong to the same pitcher, and that is precisely the problem.
Braves Haiku of the Day
Forty-eight and one
thirty — altitude looks fine
but the nose points down
— Ellis Magnolia · Braves
Martin Perez Is Your Game 1 Starter. Let That Sink In.
The Braves have the best record in the National League and zero proven playoff starters. Not one. Dex was 91% on a blockbuster three days ago. He's raising the number.
Forty-Two Days, and the Trade This Front Office Has Never Made
The Braves have the best record in the National League and zero reliable starters for October. In 42 days, Alex Anthopoulos must make a trade he has never made before.
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Elder Shelled, Sale Gone, and the Braves Still Won the Series
The Braves took two of three from the NL's best team on a day their rotation lost its best pitcher for two months. The math still works — barely.
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Albies Just Answered Every Question About This Lineup With Two Swings
Ellis Magnolia wrote this morning that the Braves' offense went quiet and nobody noticed. Ozzie Albies noticed. He hit two home runs, drove in three, and ended Aaron Ashby's perfect record with a walk-off shot that made the whole argument look premature.
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Three-for-Twenty-Seven and the One Man Who Didn't Get the Memo
Ozzie Albies hit two home runs, including a walk-off that handed Aaron Ashby his first loss of the season. The rest of the Braves' lineup went 3-for-27. Both of those facts are the story.
Tilted Metrics
Braves
Swept in San Diego
TILT ATL
0-3 vs Padres
The Padres completed a 3-game sweep at Petco Park: 1-0 (Michael King 7 shutout IP), 7-6 in 10 innings, and 5-2.
The Padres completed a 3-game sweep at Petco Park: 1-0 (Michael King 7 shutout IP), 7-6 in 10 innings, and 5-2. The Braves outhit San Diego in game 1 and blew a 6-2 lead in game 2. The sweep dropped Atlanta to 48-31 --- still first in the NL East by 4.5 games, but with the third-best record in MLB behind the Dodgers (52-29) and Brewers (49-29). June record: 8-11.
Braves
June Offense: Flatlined
TILT ATL
wRC+ 113 → 87
The Braves' team wRC+ has cratered from 113 (through May) to 87 in June --- a 26-point free fall that ranks among the steepest single-month offensive collapses in franchise history.
The Braves' team wRC+ has cratered from 113 (through May) to 87 in June --- a 26-point free fall that ranks among the steepest single-month offensive collapses in franchise history. Austin Riley is homerless in June. Drake Baldwin is hitting .077 over his last 30 plate appearances. The catcher void (Sandy Leon wRC+ of -84, Austin Wynns at -73) is a sinkhole. Four starters on the IL. The bullpen (MLB-best ERA) is carrying a lineup that can't score.
Braves
Deadline Clock: 39 Days
TILT ATL
Rotation help non-optional
Chris Sale and Spencer Strider remain on the 60-day IL.
Chris Sale and Spencer Strider remain on the 60-day IL. Grant Holmes, Bryce Elder, and JR Ritchie are audition arms, not answers. Tarik Skubal is the top target but costs two top-10 prospects. Sonny Gray (Red Sox, 8-1, 3.03 ERA) and Jose Soriano (Angels, 7-4, 2.96 ERA) are secondary options. Hurston Waldrep is pitching at Triple-A with diminished velocity. The August 3 trade deadline is not a choice --- it's a mandate.
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