Weekend Reflections: It matters that Braves are winning again

What I think about some things I saw over the weekend …

The Braves swept the Guardians in a three-game series in Cleveland over the weekend. That made five victories in a row and eight in the past nine games. It’s too little and much too late for the Braves to make the playoffs, but that doesn’t mean the surge doesn’t matter.

First, there’s the fundamental truth that winning always is better than losing. That’s especially the case in MLB. Its draft offers no quick fixes for losers. Even if it did, each game should offer its own pleasures and discoveries independent of the big picture.

Beyond winning for winning’s sake, there’s the reality that the 2026 Braves likely will look much like the 2025 Braves. The outlook for next season and beyond will improve if underachieving players who likely will return finish this season strong. That’s been happening since the trade deadline.

The most productive Braves hitters this month are Michael Harris II, Marcell Ozuna, Ronald Acuña Jr., Matt Olson, Drake Baldwin and Jurickson Profar (he hit a go-ahead homer on Sunday). Ozuna is set to become a free agent this winter. The other four have contracts with team control beyond next season.

They’ve all faced questions that their recent surges have started to answer.

Harris broke out of a deep slump to become the team’s best hitter since the All-Star break. Acuña returned from the injured list Friday and went 3-for-12 with two walks against Cleveland.

Olson’s numbers are great so far this month after dipping to just OK in July. Baldwin, a rookie, is showing staying power, and Profar’s power numbers are starting to look like they did in 2024, before his doping suspension.

The picture isn’t as good on the pitching side because one-time ace Spencer Strider continues to look more like a reliever than a starter. That worrying trend is offset by effective work from rookie Hurston Waldrep (3.02 ERA in three August appearances) and waiver-wire pickup Joey Wentz (2.84 ERA in two starts). Also, reliever Pierce Johnson’s continued run of strong results is a welcome development for the depth of the 2026 bullpen.

The Braves will have holes to fill for 2026. They’ll have fewer issues if their key players under contract finish strong. That matters, even if you think that winning when they are out of the playoff race doesn’t.

Brent Key isn’t happy with his Yellow Jackets

AJC Georgia Tech beat writer Chad Bishop reports that coach Brent Key ripped his team’s performance after Saturday’s scrimmage. Key complained that “way too many guys either didn’t play or tapped out for aches and pains and things you have to play through.”

NFL coaches don’t push players to practice through injuries in August. I guess we’ll find out if Key knows better than them.

Key said he’s worried about his team’s mental toughness. That’s never been an issue for Key’s teams. He insisted that he wasn’t speaking out of frustration. We’ll know soon if Key was right to be worried. The Yellow Jackets open at Colorado on Aug. 29.

Colorado coach Deion Sanders has his own problems. He said his team has a lot of injuries along the rebuilt offensive line. That news came out during a team meeting that was captured by cameras from the Well Off Media YouTube channel run by Deion Sanders Jr.

Surely, that was some real reality TV.

Saints still unsettled at quarterback

The weak state of the NFC South increases the odds that the Falcons end their playoff drought at seven years. That was supposed to be the case last season, too, but they lost to teams quarterbacked by Justin Fields, Bo Nix and Bryce Young. Derek Carr carved up the Falcons for a win in New Orleans, but they should have a better shot against Tyler Shough or Spencer Rattler.

After Carr retired in May, Saints coach Kellen Moore opened a QB competition between Shough and Rattler. That’s another way of saying Moore isn’t sure that either of them can be an effective starter. He still might not be sure after two exhibition games.

Slough was much better than Rattler in the exhibition opener. Shough started against the Jaguars on Sunday and was 9-of-12 for 66 yards as New Orleans scored on one of his four first-half drives. Rattler played the second half and passed for 199 yards with a touchdown and tying two-point conversion in the final minute. But that was after he had an interception in the red zone during the previous drive.

I didn’t like what I saw from Rattler in college at either Oklahoma or South Carolina. He got his shot when Carr was injured last year and didn’t fare well. I did like Shough’s play for Louisville. But he tended to be jumpy in the pocket against a good pass rush, and the Falcons might finally have one this year.

Tennessee picks starting QB

Tennessee finally made the College Football Playoff last season, only to get smoked by Ohio State in the first round. It happens. But then quarterback Nico Iamaleava transferred to UCLA in April. It essentially became a QB trade when Joey Aguilar transferred from UCLA to Rocky Top without playing a game for the Bruins.

Volunteers coach Josh Heupel announced Sunday that Aguilar earned the starting position over redshirt freshman Jake Merklinger. Aguilar was a two-year starter at Appalachian State. He completed just 60% of his passes with 56 touchdowns and 24 interceptions.

Heupel’s reputation as a QB guru is going to be tested. Iamaleava, Hendon Hooker and Joe Milton all were blue-chip recruits out of high school. Aguilar wasn’t. Then he was turnover prone as the starter for a Sun Belt team.

Asked Friday about Aguilar’s risky passes, Heupel told reporters: “You’re going to have to make tight throws.”

What could possibly go wrong?

Report: Big Ten considering proposal to double size of CFP field

College football’s first 12-team playoff revealed that there aren’t 12 top-tier teams to fill that bracket with competitive games. Three of the four first-round games were decided by margins of 25, 26 and 27 points.

So, naturally, the Big Ten’s leaders are reportedly considering a proposal that would expand the College Football Playoff field to 24 or 28 teams.

Per an ESPN report, the Big Ten’s proposal would eliminate conference title games while creating “a large number of auto bids for” the Big Ten, SEC, ACC and Big 12.