All the offensive records and overpowering performances of the 2023 regular season are just background noise. The Atlanta Braves were again eliminated in the NLDS.
A 3-1 loss in Game 4 ensured a 3-1 defeat in games in the NLDS to the Phillies – again. What went wrong?
Red October
The Phillies’ Power Shift
Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, and Nick Castellanos (the first player in postseason history with back-to-back multi-homer games) supplied plenty of power. The Phillies out-homered the Braves, 11-3, in the series.
However, the Phillies’ starting pitching of Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Ranger Suarez, and a host of relievers stopped the Braves cold.
The Braves had one of the best offenses in baseball history, setting the major league record with a .501 slugging percentage and tying the record with 307 home runs.
The Phillies’ pitching held them to three homers in four games. Atlanta scored only eight runs in the four games, with five of those runs coming in the Game 2 victory. Third baseman Austin Riley hit .353 with two home runs, but only three others hit better than .200 in the series.
The Braves scored 146 runs in the first inning, 60 more than the league average, and went 78-25 when scoring first.
The Phillies’ pitching held them scoreless in the first inning throughout the NLDS.
Game 4 Turning Point
A Game 5 was one wild pitch away.
Ronald Acuña Jr. was at the plate in the seventh inning with the bases loaded and two outs. The score was 3-1, and reliever Craig Kimbrel uncorked a pitch that eluded catcher J.T. Realmuto.
Inexplicably, the baserunners did not advance, thus denying an easy run and changing the following sequence of events.
An alternate scenario, such as a 3-2 lead with runners on second and third, would have likely led to the Phillies intentionally walking Acuña to load the bases and create a force out at every base. It would have brought Ozzie Albies to the plate.
What might have been gave way to what happened. Instead, Acuña drove a ball to deep left-center field that was caught at the fence by Johan Rojas for the third out.
Johan Rojas makes the catch and the @Phillies keep the lead! #Postseason pic.twitter.com/xJwOvyggnk
— MLB (@MLB) October 13, 2023
Wait’ Til Next Year
Despite their short-series failure, the Braves’ offense will again be the team’s identity in 2024.
Looking ahead, the Braves need starting pitching to avoid a three-peat.
The free-agent market will include the all-to-familiar Nola, Blake Snell, Eduardo Rodriguez, Lucas Giolito, Jordan Montgomery, and Sonny Gray.
Starting pitchers Spencer Strider, Max Fried, Bryce Elder, Michael Soroka, and AJ Smith-Shawver are under contract, as are relievers Raisel Iglesias, A.J. Minter, and Michael Tonkin. Charlie Morton, who missed the NLDS with a sprained finger, is 39, and his future is questionable. Kyle Wright will miss the next season with shoulder surgery.
It’s Not Me, It’s You
The Braves were done in again by the reward of the best record. The top teams have struggled in the expanded playoff format for the second straight year.
The Braves joined other top seeds whose season ended after one round. The Dodgers, Orioles, and Braves had won 100 games. Division champion Brewers and the home-field advantage wild card Rays also lost.
Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred does not blame the format. He was interviewed Thursday and dismissed the idea raised by some fans and writers that the current 12-team format, in which the top two teams in each league receive a bye while the lower seeds battle it out in the wild card series, produces too long a layoff for the top teams. The advantage of the bye week has generated the exact opposite effect.
Rob Manfred defends new playoff structure as top seeds eliminated yet again, including three 100-win teams https://t.co/bHzfuKwTYS
— CBS Sports MLB (@CBSSportsMLB) October 13, 2023
Braves manager Brian Snitker didn’t make excuses, pointing to the Astros as an example of a team that hasn’t been bothered by the new format, but the playoff format remains a topic of contention.
Manfred said the league would evaluate that question in the offseason and could discuss it with the players’ union. Any change to the format would not have to wait until the collective bargaining agreement expires in December 2026.
Main Photo Credits: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
