Not a lot to say about this one. The pitching wasn’t great, the hitting was okay, and the D-Backs matched us punch for punch and then threw in a couple extra.
You had a bog-standard Uncle Charlie start, where he pitched pretty well apart from the multiple homers he gave up. His opposite number, a rookie named Slade Cecconi, was no better. But while the bullpen had been nearly scoreless on the roadtrip, the floodgates opened up today, as Pierce Johnson let in an inherited runner and Joe Jimenez had his worst game in a month, allowing two runs on a double, infield single, hit by pitch, bases-loaded walk, sacrifice fly sequence.
I was watching, and frankly, I understood Snit’s reluctance to take him out with the bases loaded, no outs, and no runs in – it’s hard to imagine that a different guy would have come in from the pen and had a better chance of stranding all three runners.
Why did I feel that way? You know who he had been warming up in the pen? Aaron Bummer.
Austin Riley had another good game, with two doubles and a single, and Marcell cranked one 440 feet to tie the game in the 8th, which partly made up for the 440-footer that Ketel Marte hit to tie the game in the second. It was hard not to feel like the Braves ought to have done a little better against Cecconi, though, and Orlando Arcia is frankly lost at the plate. He looks like he needs some extended spring training; he has no idea what he’s swinging at.
Also, Ozzie Albies should really be hitting in the lower half of the lineup. I’ve said it roughly a million times, but his OBP is simply unacceptable to hit in the second spot of the lineup.
Fried vs. Pfaadt tonight. Let’s see if we can preserve the series victory.

The Braves have scored at least 5 runs in each of their last 6 games, which is great to see. Riley in particular has just been mashing lately, with a 202 wRC+ over the last four weeks (111 total PAs).
It was unfortunate that Jiménez had a rough night, but he still has an awesome 17/4 shutdown/meltdown ratio this year and has been the team’s most valuable reliever by fWAR. More often than not, he’ll take care of business.
Yeah, that’s basically where I come out. Sometimes good relievers have bad nights. As long as we keep winning series, we’ll be a winning ballclub.
But we still badly need reinforcements. The bottom third of our lineup is a barren wasteland, and that makes it extraordinarily difficult to overcome the continuing below-par performance of Ozzie Albies, Matt Olson, and Sean Murphy.
Looks like the Dodgers are moving towards moving on from Gavin Lux. I wonder what it would take to get him?
I think Murphy is trending in the right direction. He’s posted the second-highest wRC+ (173) and wOBA (.420) of any Braves hitter over the past three weeks of play (since June 19). Only Austin Riley has been better. I completely understand the Braves’ desire to keep both catchers fresh and not overwork them during the hot summer months, but I’m hoping that they’ll play Murphy a little more regularly moving forward. Getting more frequent PAs might allow him to be consistent and stay more locked in offensively.
I do agree that adding some reinforcements would be prudent, as certain guys have really struggled lately (especially Arcia). Bo Bichette is an intriguing name that I’ve seen thrown around recently. He’s been really bad this year, but has a good track record of success prior to 2024, and may provide a little more upside at shortstop. I’m not sure what it would take to get him, though.
Thanks Alex.
Fried Pfaadt definitely sounds like something you should be able to get at The Varsity.
It’s pretty much all they serve!
To me the dead spot of the order is Arcia. With the addition of Rosario (who has been solid so far) and the return of Harris after the break, the only “real” spot with no upside is at SS. I like Arcia on defense but he is becoming Belliard like at the plate.
Regarding Rosario, I’m happy to have the guy as a mascot but I could not have less faith in what’s remaining in his bat.
Prove me wrong, Eddie!
Yeah, Rosario isn’t it either. He’s just a band-aid until the deadline.
Keith Law didn’t love my Waldrep question:
Kip: At what point would you transition Waldrep into a relief role? He didn’t get a lot of swing and misses in a small MLB sample, even with that split.
Keith Law: Uh, he’s less than a year out of the draft.
He’s correct, it’s probably too soon to think that way, but I feel he has a higher ceiling as a closer than starting.
I’m with you – I didn’t like what I saw from him during his two starts. But he’s barely out of college and he’s hardly thrown any pro innings. At this stage of his development, he’s just got to pitch. He’ll show us what he’s capable of. But he’s got to stay in the minor leagues until he can reliably get guys out with multiple pitches..
Not that I really think we’re gonna chase down the Phillies, but geez, thanks for nothing, Dodgers.
Game thread is up. Sorry, been out all day with kids!