Hey there.
It’s Friday, which means I’m back to bless your inbox with beautiful Braves-related prose.
Let’s get it.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Three more games from Philadelphia following last night’s 19-4 beat down. Then it’s on to Chicago.
📺 How to watch: Tonight’s Game 2 with the Phillies starts at 6:45 p.m. on Apple TV. Saturday and Sunday’s games get underway at 6:05 p.m. and 7:10 p.m., respectively, on FanDuel Sports.
⚾ Weekend pitching matchups: In chronological order …
- Bryce Elder (5-9, 6.12) vs. Ranger Suarez (10-6, 3.07)
- TBD* vs. Christopher Sanchez (11-5, 2.66)
- Hurston Waldrep (4-0, 0.90) vs. Jesus Luzardo (12-6, 4.23)
*No official announcement yet, but Chris Sale is expected to make his return to the mound on Saturday.
📝 On deck: The Phillies series closes out August for the Braves. After that they head to Chicago for a three-game set with Dansby Swanson and the Cubs.
Monday’s Labor Day special starts at 4:05 p.m.
EYES ON SNIT IN SEPTEMBER
September baseball feels a bit different in Atlanta this year.
A glimmer of that old offensive production, perhaps. But a mostly broken starting rotation, a bullpen shipping unfamiliar names in and out every day — and a team miles off the playoff hunt.
Still, as the AJC’s Gabe Burns reports, there’s plenty to watch for as the Braves’ miserable season comes to a close: Drake Baldwin’s Rookie of the Year pursuit (lagging a bit) and Ozzie Albies’ (hopefully continued) offensive resurgence included.
🤔 Then there’s the elephant in the room: Brian Snitker.
The assumption is Atlanta’s longtime manager will call it quits at season’s end. But it’s still just an assumption.
From Gabe’s story:
Will Snitker and the team make an announcement about his future before the season concludes? It would make sense to give the organization and fans a way to acknowledge Snitker before his retirement, if that’s what he chooses to do. Snitker deserves the applause and admiration for his dedication to the franchise and for being such an excellent ambassador for baseball.
“Snit has been unbelievable here,” third baseman Austin Riley told the AJC. “The experience he has, he’s been around the game longer than anybody around here. He’s seen it all. From a manager and leader, you don’t ever see him panic. And that’s like the No. 1 thing I’ve been really appreciative of. We’ve had our ups and downs. When we won in ’21, we weren’t good in the beginning. You never saw him change. You haven’t seen him change here.”
Some fans (who are wrong) would’ve run Snitker off a long time ago. But seven postseason berths and a World Series title in a little under 10 seasons aren’t anything to sneeze at … nor is the half-century Snitker has spent in the Braves organization.
The man deserves a proper send-off, even if it’s abbreviated.
FOLLOW-UP QUESTION
If Snitker indeed calls it quits, who would you like to see replace him as Braves skipper?
A few options rolling around the ol’ rumor bucket:
- Walt Weiss: Current Braves bench coach, managed the Rockies from 2013-16.
- Skip Schumaker: Well-thought-of former Marlins manager.
- David Ross: Former Braves catcher, Cubs manager from 2020-23.
- Mark DeRosa: Former Braves infielder, manager of the U.S. World Baseball Classic team.
- Chipper Jones: Just kidding. He’s said he’s not interested.
Not sure I have strong feelings about any of them … but if there’s ever a time to look outside the current dugout, this is probably it.
Shoot me an email with your preference, please.
GOING THE DISTANCE
Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber (who would make a pretty good replacement for Marcell Ozuna in 2026, just saying) hit four home runs against the Braves last night.
Not an enjoyable experience for Atlanta fans.
But here’s the wild part: There have now been 21 four-homer games in MLB history. The Braves and their franchise predecessors have somehow been involved in seven of them.
📈 Tackj Schwarber’s four-homer game onto the one Arizona’s Eugenio Suarez put up against the Braves in April, and that makes two.
(And yes: Best I can tell, Atlanta is the only team to ever surrender multiple four-homer games in the same season.)
📈 Braves third baseman Bob Horner hit four against the Expos in 1986. Joe Adcock hit four in 1954. And a guy from the Boston Beaneaters (which later became the Braves) was the first to accomplish the feat in 1894.
That’s five total involving the now-Atlanta-based franchise.
📈 We get to seven by adding Gil Hodges’ four-homer game against the (Milwaukee) Braves in 1950 and Willie Mays’ similar accomplishment in 1961.
Baseball is weird.
PARTY LIKE IT’S 1995
I also included some of this in the inaugural edition of the AJC’s all-sports newsletter (currently titled “Sports Weekly,” but we’re working on it).
That said, y’all’s memories of the Braves winning the 1995 World Series were too good to leave out here.
🥰 From reader Bennet, a man of culture: “At the exact moment the Braves won the ’95 Series I was a few miles away watching ‘Miss Saigon’ with my wife at the Atlanta Civic Center. At intermission I heard about David Justice’s home run. I’d brought a Walkman into the auditorium and was listening to the play-by-play on the Walkman. When the Braves won around 10:30 p.m. there was a subdued sigh of relief from the audience. At the curtain call the cast members took their bows wearing Braves baseball caps. Memorable.”
🥰 From Josh, who was 10 at the time: “My Boy Scout troop had an overnight campout on the USS Yorktown. An old Navy ship that was sunken and turned into a museum. They set up a big TV inside the ship so we could watch it. Being from N.C. most of the baseball fans were Braves fans. I still remember jumping out of my old cafeteria chair when Grissom made that catch.”
🥰 From Larry, who lived a sitcom episode: “We had season tickets that year but had to go to a bar mitzvah in Boston. I had to watch the final game on a 10-inch black-and-white TV in the ‘coat check’ room in a hotel where the party was. When I see the bar mitzvah boy, who is now 43, I remind him of what he did to my family.”
PHOTO OF THE DAY
Is Ozzie Albies finally getting it together? The second baseman is hitting .275 with three homers, 10 RBIs and seven runs over the last week.
Thanks for reading Braves Report. Tell a friend — and maybe give the AJC’s Sports Daily newsletter a shot, too.
Until next time.
About the Author
Before taking over the AJC's Sports Daily newsletter, Tyler Estep spent two years writing the A.M. ATL newsletter. A Gwinnett County native and University of Georgia graduate, he has been with the AJC since 2015 and previously worked as a reporter on the breaking news, hyperlocal and local government teams.
