The Win Column: High-Leverage Honey Bun

Hey y’all.

May I interrupt football season for a little bit of Braves talk?

ABOUT THAT HONEY BUN THING

The Braves made the first significant signing of baseball’s offseason — and it’s a reliever nicknamed the High-Leverage Honey Bun.

• Evan Phillips, most recently of the Dodgers, inked a three-year, $35 million deal with Atlanta.
• The 32-year-old was actually drafted by the Braves in 2015 and made his MLB debut with them in 2018 — shortly before shipping off to Baltimore as part of Atlanta’s one-year-too-early deal for starter Kevin Gausman.
• He posted a 2.36 ERA in six seasons with the Dodgers and performed well down the stretch after returning from Tommy John surgery in July.

Phillips’ nickname was born early in his college career at UNC-Wilmington, when he committed the cardinal sin of showing up to a scrimmage with a certain sweet snack in tow. L.A. teammate Alex Vesia added the “high-leverage” part (and made T-shirts) back in 2021.

More importantly: Don’t be angry about it, k?

That tends to happen anytime Alex Anthopoulos & Co. make an acquisition that’s not a frontline starting pitcher or an offensively minded outfielder. Which is understandable.

But one signing doesn’t preclude another. Phillips is excitement-worthy (he’s literally never allowed a run in the postseason), and a shaky bullpen is one of the four most annoying things in sports.

• The other three: inconsistent kickers*, offensive holding and use of the phrase “controlling your own destiny.”

Anyway: As beat reporter Chad Bishop writes, “the addition of Phillips is security for the Braves’ bullpen in the event that reliever Didier Fuentes returns — and elevates — to being a starter, and if closer Raisel Iglesias opts to depart via free agency.”

With Dylan Lee, Robert Suarez and others sticking around, Atlanta could have the best bullpen in baseball even if Iglesias doesn’t return.

That’s not everything, of course. But it does feel kinda nice.

More Braves coverage below. There’s a special surprise at the end of the newsletter, too.

• 4 Braves get MVP votes
• Sale finishes third in Cy Young race
• Potentially trade-worthy starters
• Free agent starters who could fit

*SPEAKING OF INCONSISTENT KICKERS

The Falcons host the Chiefs on Sunday, and the falloff from Kansas City kicker Harrison Butker is truly stunning.

As we’ve discussed, Atlanta has its own field goal problems. But Butker, a Westminster and Georgia Tech product, has converted just 63% of his attempts this season — including four misses in his last six tries.

His seven total misses lead the league. Head coach Andy Reid plans to “stick with Butker this week, and we’ll go from there.”

Yikes.

I bring it up because the Falcons always seem to play the Chiefs tight. The last three games between the two (2016, 2020, 2024) were decided by a total of nine points.

If this year’s Falcons want to stick to their trend of stinker-stinker-unexpected win, the kicking game might make the difference … though I’d be a tad more concerned about Pat Mahomes and Kenneth Walker III.

🔗 Bonus linkage: Why Jake Moody chose Atlanta; Falcons (still) want Pitts more involved

OK, TIME FOR A BIJAN BREAK

I’m actually kinda tired of thinking about the Falcons. But I did enjoy stumbling upon Bijan Robinson’s recent appearance on a podcast hosted by Detroit Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown.

St. Brown asked the eternally positive Robinson (who you’ll never get, Harbaugh!) if he ever talks trash on the field.

“I don’t say a word,” Robinson said. “It gets to the point where dudes start to talk about, like, life and stuff to me on the field. Even this past week, I made a dude miss and the defender was like, ‘Bro, I knew that was gonna happen.’ It’s positive talk because they just know. And especially the guys in our division … they’ll talk smack to somebody else and they’ll look at me and (smiles and nods) just keep walking.”

Wholesome!

🗣️ Bonus Georgia Tech reference: St. Brown said Lions teammate Jahmyr Gibbs, the former Yellow Jackets star, isn’t much of a talker either.

GOOD COLLEGE FOOTBALL THINGS TO KNOW

🐶 Khamari Brooks and top-ranked Georgia football could clinch a spot in the last-ever SEC Championship Game if they beat Missouri on Saturday (3:30 p.m., ABC) … and if three of these teams lose: Alabama, Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee.

🐝 Georgia Tech tries to snap a four-game losing streak when it visits Clemson on Saturday (12:30 p.m., CW). Several defensive coaches are gone, and head coach Brent Key’s being very adverb-y about the offense: “I obviously am totally aware that we haven’t necessarily been in the right position to have success offensively.”

👍 The results are in for the Win Column College Football Upset Pick of the Week, and y’all are ready for … *tries and fails to make a drumroll sound with my mouth* … No. 18 Southern Cal to take care of business at No. 9 Indiana.

• It’s been over a month since the Hoosiers played a game decided by more than a touchdown, and their starting running back is out Saturday. Smart choice.

🚨 The AJC’s Mike Griffith went ahead and figured out what a 24-team playoff would look like this season — and it’s your gift link of the day. You’ll be glad to know we’re sacrificing conference title games to watch first-round games like South Carolina vs. Oregon.

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: STAT LEADERS AND PLAYOFF PREVIEWS

🏆 Congrats to Pierce County’s Jae’Veon Williams, Trinity Christian’s Ashton Clare and Lithia Springs’ Kamari Frazier, who finished the regular season as GHSA’s leading rusher, passer and receiver, respectively.

🏆 Did someone say playoff previews? We’ve got ‘em for all 123 first-round games, organized by classification: 7A, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A, A, Private.

MORE LIKE JURICKSON NO-FAR

As alluded to above, the Braves say they haven’t made a decision on the future of Jurickson Profar. He’s still under contract for 2027 after failing PED tests in back-to-back off-seasons.