Braves Pitching Falters to Toronto, Tying Series
The Atlanta Braves are officially out of the playoff picture in September for the first time since the 2017 season
The Atlanta Braves got down and out quickly, with the Toronto Blue Jays cruising to a 9-5 victory in Truist Park on Saturday night.
Here’s what you need to know about from the contest.
Schwellenbach didn’t have it tonight
Spencer Schwellenbach’s allowed just twelve runs across his last 42 innings, spanning seven starts. It’s been an impressive run of success for the rookie.
Tonight was a struggle.
The righthander lasted just five innings tonight, allowing six runs (three earned) on ten hits. As always, he threw a lot of strikes, with 56 of his 72 pitches being strikes. Some of the Toronto hitters were ready for this, however - nine of the 24 batters that Schwellenbach faced swung at the first pitch, and those at-bats combined for six hits (including a homer and two RBI doubles).
It doesn’t help that Schwellenbach’s locations weren’t as crisp as usual - he wasn’t walking batters, but he left more pitches in the heart of the zone than usual. Spencer Horwitz hit two homers and picked up an RBI double - one of the homers and the double were both on middle-middle sliders, while Joey Loperfido’s fourth-inning RBI double was on a middle-down fastball.
It’s possible fatigue is a factor here - not in this game, but in general. Schwellenbach’s previous season-high in innings was last year’s 65.0, but he’s already thrown a combined 142.2 between his time in Double-A Mississippi and the majors in 2024.
STREAK WATCH: The streak of three or fewer runs allowed by Braves starters is over at a franchise-record 25 games.
Merrifield will miss some time
Whit Merrifield has the worst injury luck.
The infielder has already suffered two injuries since joining the team - he suffered a finger issue that needed stitches on his first day with Atlanta before missing two games earlier this week after being hit in the back of the head with a fastball.
The bad luck continues.
Manager Brian Snitker revealed in pre-game that Merrifield has a broken foot, suffered last night on a foul ball. An x-ray taken when he left the game did not find it, but late-night imaging (MRI and CT scan) revealed the break. Merrifield reportedly visited a foot specialist on Saturday morning and got some interesting news: Playing on the broken foot won’t make things worse and it’s mostly a pain tolerance issue.
With the team initially confirming that Merrifield would not be going on the injured list, he said his goal was to return to the lineup by next weekend’s matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
I’m not sure that’s a smart decision. Merrifield’s a player who depends on his legs for most of his value, both for his defensive range and his baserunning. Is a diminished, playing-through-pain version of Merrifield better than the alternatives? Luke Williams has made five starts at second base in the last week, picking up five hits, driving in four, and stealing two bases.
Additionally, is he the caliber of player worth spending a week a man down on your bench? Yes, outfielders Eli White and Ramón Laureano took ground balls at second base today as emergency options, but White hasn’t started at second base since 2019 and Laureano’s entire professional infield experience consists of one inning at first base while in High-A (in Lancaster in 2016). Do we really trust either of them to man second base for a game if Williams needs to shift over to cover shortstop for some reason?
In a related move, the media was informed during that game that Atlanta had traded for utilityman Cavan Biggio from the San Francisco Giants. Starting the year with the Toronto Blue Jays, he was traded midseason to the Dodgers before being DFA’d and signing a late-August minor-league deal with San Francisco. Biggio would not be eligible for the postseason (assuming Atlanta makes it), but he could be elevated to the active roster by freeing up a 40-man roster spot to play the next few weeks until Ozzie Albies is ready to return.
Out of the postseason
With this loss, Atlanta is officially a full game behind the New York Mets for the final NL Wild Card spot. And that’s unusual - buckle in, because this is a doozy.
This is the first time Atlanta has been out of the postseason picture on September 7th since 2017, when the team was 62-77 and 23.5 games behind the first-place Washington Nationals.
While Atlanta has the more advantageous remaining schedule over New York - their .540 strength of schedule is 3rd-hardest in MLB, while Atlanta’s .503 is only 17th - this division feels like it’s going to come down to the outcome of the final series between the two teams, coming September 24th-26th in Truist Park.
What’s next for the Atlanta Braves?
Atlanta’s going to attempt to win the series on Sunday afternoon. NL Cy Young favorite Chris Sale (16-3, 2.46) squares off with Yariel Rodríguez (1-6, 4.61) at 1:35 PM ET.