Halfway
With the completion of the game tonight, we are halfway through the 2026 regular season. It’s gone pretty well, even as the last couple of weeks has been shaky. The Braves were the first team to 10 wins, and 20, and 30 and 40. Not so with the 50th win.
Not to get all Roger Angell-y, but the season length of baseball perfectly balances impatience and patience; every good season has extended longuers, and every bad one has glimmers of hope for next season. And the law of averages works: you can be definitely be lucky for 7 games; you can even be lucky for 30 games; you can’t be lucky for 162. Every half-season contains games you were lucky to win and games you were unlucky to lose. The rhythm of baseball is amazingly close to the rhythm of life, at least to baseball fans. OK… that was a little too Roger Angell-y. 2 1/2 weeks out of the country will do that to you.
The Game
Bryce Elder on the bump. The first and fourth inning were for the believers in the new Bryce Elder. The two innings in between were for the “not so fast” crowd. Two Rafael Devers homers (one off the foul pole) and a wild-pitch-assisted run made it 5-0. This is Bryce Elder’s career, microcosmed to four innings. The only thing more Bryce Elder would have been to alternate the good and bad innings.
Opposing him was Logan Webb, who has started 10 games in his career against Atlanta and was really good in all but two of them. After some initial glimmers of offense, Webb shackled everybody: a one-hit cap-tip.
Chris Sale against Robbie Ray for the rubber game tomorrow. I should be watching from the USA, Delta willing.
I hope no one blames Bryce Elder when the Braves score zero runs. If he had not goiven up the HRs to Devers we still lose 1-0. If the Braves score zero then it doesn’t matter if we give up 5 or 50, we still lose.
The Braves will not be “good” again until they are scoring 5+ runs per game. We need hitters.
If we were losing a lot of 6-5 games then you can call for better pitching (see gNats).
The offense is lousy and Elder is trash this month and is in automatic-loss territory. Two things can be true at the same time.
CARLOS CARRASCO
Have we hit any homers on this road trip? Doesn’t seem like it.
Joey Bart homered in San Diego but that’s all I can recall.
I’m back home and focused… the slump ends now! Riley hits! RAJ returns! The renaissance starts now!
I’ve seen lots of comments on Battery Power and X about people wanting to DFA Kim and call up Jarvis.
Jarvis has 16 errors in only half a season. In general, I don’t worry that much about errors as opposed to valuing range and throwing ability, but 16 errors is a ton. Not sure that he’s the answer.
The answer is keep working Mateo and Dubón and add shortstop to the list of positions at which you’d consider a deadline trade. Kim is sunk cost. Sub-.700 career OPS, sub-.320 career OBP. What’s the upside outcome here?
The Braves haven’t gotten a hit in 10 innings now.
Baldwin has hit the ball hard in his first 2 PAs but has nothing to show for it.
2-0 feels like 20-0
This offense stinks. And Austin Riley is not fielding his position today at all. As was said in “Office Space” … “What would you say you DO here,” Austin?
The Braves could have had another run if they had asked Kim to bunt before. Might have made a difference.
I just don’t understand having a man on 1st and 2nd and Kim up that they don’t consider bunting.
Yep. Let’s blame Chris Sale for this loss.
Matt Olson, Chris Sale, and Dylan Lee are the only players worth a damn right now.
Win #10 – April 12
Win #20 – April 26
Win #30 – May 13
Win #40 – May 30
Win #50 – earliest will be June 30
Stated differently, this team won 40 games through May 31, and only 9 games since.
Recapped.