The Braves got a break they badly needed Tuesday, even if it comes with a catch.
After Atlanta’s bullpen was hammered in Monday’s series opener against the Mets, Tuesday’s game in New York was postponed because of inclement weather in the area. The teams will now play a split doubleheader on Wednesday, July 29, with the first game set for 1:10 p.m.
EST and the second at 7:10 p.m. EST.
Game one of the doubleheader is expected to feature Chris Sale on the mound for Atlanta, with Grant Holmes also slated to start one of the two games. No official order has been announced yet.
The postponement gives the Braves a little breathing room during a brutal stretch, but not much. Atlanta is in the middle of 17 straight games without a day off, and the bullpen has already been pushed hard after being depleted during the team’s series with Baltimore. That workload showed up Monday, when LHP Connor Thomas was forced to absorb much of the damage in the loss.
The extra day off between games is helpful in one sense, but Wednesday’s doubleheader will ask even more from a relief corps that has been stretched thin. Atlanta’s starters have also had trouble getting deep into games lately, which only adds to the pressure on the bullpen.
The Braves can add a 27th man for the doubleheader, and they’ll likely need to use that option to bring in another arm. After what happened Monday, they can’t afford to go into another game short on pitching.
Jorge Mateo had to pitch, for goodness sake. That’s not what the team ever wants to see happen. With the trade deadline coming up soon, Atlanta should have a chance to address its need for relievers.
In Other News...
Braves Make Intriguing Pitching Change Right Before Mets Doubleheader
The Braves shuffled their pitching staff on the eve of a doubleheader with the Mets, a move that brings a familiar arm back into the mix and adds another fresh option to a rotation that has been asked to do a lot. AJ Smith-Shawver has been activated for his season debut after working his way back through Gwinnett, while Elieser Hernndez has also been added to the major league roster as Atlanta tries to manage the strain of two games in one day.
The timing matters because the Braves needed a response after Connor Thomas was sent to Triple-A Gwinnett following a rough outing, and now they are hoping the new look gives them a better chance to navigate the matchup. Hernndez has offered some recent signs of stability, and Smith-Shawvers return gives Atlanta another layer of depth as it heads into a stretch where every inning can shape the rest of the week. [Read more 🡒]
Mets Fans Could Hardly Believe How Long Braves Let This Go
Connor Thomas night against the Mets quickly turned into one of those outings a team wants to forget, and the Braves never really found a way to stop the bleeding. In 2.2 innings, Thomas was tagged for 11 runs on 10 hits and issued five walks, a rough line that put Atlanta in a deep hole and left the game feeling out of hand long before the final outs were recorded.
What stood out even more was how long the Braves stayed with him. Rather than turning to more bullpen arms, they let Thomas keep going until his pitch count reached 78, a decision that only added to the frustration around the outing. For a club trying to piece together innings, it was the kind of night that raises questions about workload, damage control and how quickly Atlanta can move on from a performance like this. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Cannot Afford These Deadline Mistakes Again
As the Braves look toward the trade deadline, the temptation is always to chase the biggest name or the flashiest fit. But this is one of those stretches where Atlanta has to be careful not to spend prospect capital on players who look more appealing in theory than they do in the context of this roster, especially with bigger needs still sitting elsewhere on the club.
That caution applies across a few different lanes, from Brandon Moniaks Coors Field-driven production to the kind of premium price a reliever like Mason Miller would command. It also extends to the infield and rotation, where shortstop depth makes a move there less urgent and a starter like Brady Singer would not move the needle enough to justify the cost, leaving the Braves with a simple but important task: avoid the wrong kind of upgrade. [Read more 🡒]