Open Grass, Rock Bottom, & DFA
If you were wondering whether or not the Braves had reached rock bottom, the answer is yes.
I’m going to completely ignore the Braves’ season record because their record doesn’t really matter independently, only relative to the competition in a given year and division. The record that matters to us today is the Braves’ record since the All-Star break relative to the Phillies. The Phillies own baseball’s worst record since that break. The Braves have taken full advantage (sarcasm) by getting within 7.5 games of Philadelphia. I maintain that the Braves are a postseason team and I don’t really think anyone has a solid argument refuting that belief. However, the Braves are awful.
With a personnel mixture of the 2021 World Series team and last year’s historically great team, the Braves have ran through multiple six-game losing streaks and have most recently lost to THE COLORADO ROCKIES in a game they led the Rockies by six runs after eight Braves offensive innings. Every player who has played the majority of the season in Atlanta besides the rookies and Jarred Kelenic have been part of at least one Braves National League East title, postseason series victory, or THE WORLD SERIES, and here we are having to score eleven runs just to win one game in a three-game series against the Rockies (a team with the same record as the Marlins).
Even in victory they look lost. Just to attempt to metaphorically sum up this season by using only one specific play, I present to you the Shallow Right Pop Fly.