PHILADELPHIA — The 2024 Braves are a new team, but boy, do they look familiar – and not just because most of the same faces are back in place.
The Braves entered the seventh inning down 2-0 in Philadelphia, looking like they were headed for an opening-day defeat. They exited the frame with the score tied. Then they finished the ensuing inning with a seven-run lead.
Final: Braves 9, Phillies 3.
Welcome to the 2024 season, one that started spectacularly. And while the coming months will be viewed through an October lens, the Braves must position themselves for the postseason first. After one day, the best they could be was 1-0, and they achieved it. This was their most exciting opening day since Nick Markakis walked off against the Phillies in 2018, a season that started this latest string of division titles.
Friday’s comeback wasn’t anything new, certainly in the regular season. Under manager Brian Snitker, the Braves have thrived off late, thrilling rallies. It’s in their DNA, a trait that’s been synonymous with each of these six consecutive National League East champion clubs.
“We just feed off each other,” outfielder Michael Harris II told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We just don’t have a doubt going into the late innings. We know you have to put runs on the board. When (Brandon Marsh) hit the home run (to put the Phillies ahead 2-0), it really doesn’t do anything to us because you have to score anyway to win. So it just gave us more motivation, I guess, to go out and step on home (plate) as many times as we did.”
For all the horrors the Braves have experienced here in October, they’ve typically enjoyed the spring and summer at Citizens Bank Park. They’re 10-6 in Philadelphia over the past two regular seasons, including 5-1 last year. Yes, that comes with the caveat: They’re 0-4 here in the past two postseasons. But those issues can’t be addressed in March.
Instead, this space will applaud the Braves’ offense for swiftly reminding the landscape how phenomenal it was a year ago.
In two innings Friday, the Braves exceeded their total offensive output in the four-game NL Division Series in October (8). Even as the offense laid dormant against Phillies ace Zack Wheeler, the 44,452 fans attending knew it could explode at any point. This time, it simply required Wheeler’s exit.
Shortstop Orlando Arcia, whose “Atta boy, Harper” comment was at the center of the 2023 NLDS, had two doubles. First baseman Matt Olson had three. Harris had three hits, including the go-ahead RBI that gave the Braves their first lead at 3-2. All-Stars Austin Riley and Ozzie Albies went a combined 0-for-8 with two walks, and the team still nearly scored double-digit runs.
“I don’t think anybody feels like they have to be the guy that carries the load here,” Snitker said. “And that’s really good because we’re really good at taking our walks. It’s a deep lineup, and I think guys know that. And they have good at-bats. They have really good at-bats.”
Outfielder Adam Duvall, a mid-spring signee who returned for a third stint with the Braves, pinch-hit for Jarred Kelenic in the seventh and delivered a two-run, game-tying double to left. It served as a reminder beyond how valuable Duvall can be.
This team’s lineup depth is astounding. There isn’t a group of hitters – not even the Dodgers – that compares from a quantity standpoint. Navigating this lineup is exhausting for pitchers (to which Wheeler gets credit for holding it scoreless over six). It’s one well-rounded hitter after another, each possessing enough power to easily convert one mistake into a run(s).
“There’s really no panic,” Duvall said. “We know it can happen like that. We get a couple runners on, pop one; we can score three real quick. We have guys who’ve been in that position before. We have guys who don’t give up. That’s important. It’s a bunch of professional at-bats. They don’t give away at-bats no matter the score. When you can do that, you can either add on or come back like we did today.”
Friday was the worst a Philadelphia team has collapsed since the Eagles were shellacked 32-9 against the Bucs in the NFL playoffs. It was a brutal unraveling for such a brilliant club. Lefty Jose Alvarado, an instrumental part of the Phillies’ playoff success, was tagged for five runs in the eighth. Connor Brogdon followed and was charged the other two. The inning just kept going and going.
This felt nothing like the mighty October Phillies. This did, however, look like the team that’s finished a combined 28 games behind the Braves over the past two years.
The Braves also looked like the regular-season behemoths they’ve become. It’s fair to judge them on postseason success (or lack thereof since the 2021 title), but there’s much to be said for their consistency in not only getting there but dominating along the way.
It’s one game, but anyone who watched Friday’s performance would probably feel the Braves are ticketed for another grand season.
“It’s not easy to create a culture,” said Duvall, who spent last season with the Red Sox and the first half of the 2021 campaign with the Marlins before reuniting with the Braves twice. “There are a lot of things that go into it: personnel, certain standards that are set by your leaders on the team, standards set by the coaching staff, the organization. There’s history that goes into it. There are a lot of different things that add up to a winning culture. We’ve been able to do that here.”
