Braves Wrap Disappointing End to Historic Season

This year was supposed to be different.

The Braves had a whopping eight All-Stars. Their lineup was historically great, drawing comparisons league wide to that of the Ruth and Gehrig-led 1927 Yankees. They had the likely National League MVP candidate in Ronald Acuna, Jr., who posted baseball’s first-ever 40 homer/70 stolen base season.

And, perhaps most importantly going into this postseason, Max Fried was considerably healthier than he was last October when the 2022 Cy Young runner-up was borderline emaciated, having dropped 15 pounds following a viral infection that morphed into a bacterial infection.

But ultimately, none of that mattered as the Braves, coming off one of their most exciting and impressive regular seasons (104-58) in franchise history, were upset by their NL East rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies, in the NLDS for the second consecutive October.

“We got beat and didn’t play good enough to win the series,” said Atlanta manager Brian Snitker following Philly’s 3-1 Game 4 clincher at Citizens Bank Park. “It’s as simple as that. We got beat by a really good club that has a penchant for this time of year. What happened this year was phenomenal, a phenomenal year for our club. Didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but it doesn’t always do that in this game. It takes a while to get over something like this after the year we had, the expectation we have here.”

Over the past two years, Atlanta has won 205 regular-season games, but only two in the playoffs. Both seasons, they have finished 14 games ahead of the Phils, but the regular-season dominance hasn’t carried over to the postseason – a growing trend around baseball that is sparking debate over whether the current playoff format is sustainable.

While the Braves had nearly a week’s layoff between the end of the regular season and Game 1 of the NLDS at sunny Truist Park on Oct. 7, during which the club tried to stay sharp with simulated games, Fried had an even longer hiatus between real game action as he last pitched against the Washington Nationals on Sept. 21 due to a recurring blister issue on his left index finger before taking the hill for Game 2. He may have been rusty going into this year’s NLDS, but at least he wasn’t violently ill like he was during his NLDS start last year when he yielded six runs (four earned) on eight hits without making it out of the fourth inning.

“Yeah. I mean, obviously not the most ideal situations coming in, not all the way healthy, missing some time going into the playoffs, but physically, my body and the way that I’m feeling this year versus last year is night and day different,” Fried said several hours before Game 1 of the NLDS.

“So, I’m feeling really good. I feel strong. Obviously don’t have too many innings on my arm this year. So, I’m just getting excited to get back out there and kind of just leave it all out there and kind of just go to battle with my guys.”

Over the past two years, Atlanta has won 205 regular-season games, but only two in the playoffs. Both seasons, they have finished 14 games ahead of the Phils, but the regular-season dominance hasn’t carried over to the postseason – a growing trend around baseball that is sparking debate over whether the current playoff format is sustainable.

After pitching six shutout innings in the clinching game of the World Series in 2021, Fried went 22-8 with a 2.58 ERA and 250 strikeouts over the last two regular seasons. When he’s healthy – and he was limited to 14 starts this summer – Fried’s devastating curveball is one of the most effective pitches in baseball. With Fried slated as the No. 2 starter behind flame throwing 20-game winner Spencer Strider, Atlanta was feeling pretty good about its chances of winning a second World Series title in three years.

“Max is one of the best starters in the Big Leagues, one of the most consistent, in my opinion, a guy who doesn’t just go out there and rely on one pitch or anything,” said All-Star first baseman Matt Olson during his pre-Game 1 press conference. “He’s able to read the game, read the flow, read the swings, and adjust his stuff and his process based off that. So, he’s a pro on the mound, and a guy we love having the ball.”

The Braves did win Fried’s Game 2 start, 5-4, behind a pair of late-game, two-run homers from veteran catcher Travis d’Arnaud and third baseman Austin Riley and a magical double play started by reigning NL Rookie of the Year Michael Harris II. But Fried factored very little into Atlanta’s sole win of the series, only lasting four innings (three earned runs). Perhaps not as sharp because of the exceptionally long layoff, Fried was uncharacteristically wild, often falling behind in counts, walking four, needing 76 pitches to get through three frames.

After the Braves’ stunning Game 2 win, Snitker downplayed the notion that the blister was the true culprit behind the lefty’s underwhelming performance.

“His fingers are fine,” assured Atlanta’s skipper. “His fingers came out fine. And I think with Max, the biggest thing is he hasn’t pitched in 18 days. So, I think that’s more than anything. But he felt good, and I think it was just, you know, Max is a feel guy, and he hadn’t been out there other than one day last week.”

Meanwhile, during his postgame remarks, Fried, when asked if he felt snakebit given the timing of the latest blister episode a year after his virus, responded, “At the end of the day, it’s playoff baseball. Everybody is either battling something or not as sharp as they want to be. You just have to perform.”

As a team, the Braves did not perform up to expectations in this NLDS rematch against the reigning National League pennant winners. Bryce Elder, an All-Star in his first full season in the majors, got roughed up in Game 3. After phenomenal regular seasons, Acuna Jr. and Olson combined to go 6 for 30. A remarkably deep lineup for the past six months did not live up to its billing (reserve outfielder Kevin Pillar, Atlanta’s other Jewish player, got a pair of starts in Games 1 and 4 but went hitless in five at-bats).

“We are not a group that makes excuses. I’m not a person that makes excuses,” Strider said following Game 4. “I’m sure there’s a lot of Braves fans out there that aren’t happy. And they have every right to be that way. We’ve got nobody to blame but ourselves, and me personally, I wasn’t good enough. I can tell you this, though, that we’re going to give everything we have over the next year to getting back to this position and making sure that we don’t have it happen this way again.”

In just over 100 days, Strider, Fried (who’s a free agent after the 2024 season) and the rest of the Braves pitching staff report to Spring Training.