Braves first baseman Matt Olson learned the breaking news of the day when he went out to the field before the second game of the Braves’ season-ending doubleheader against the New York Mets. When he looked in his team’s bullpen beyond the center-field fence, he saw Grant Holmes warming up to start and not ace Chris Sale.
Because of Sale’s back spasms, the Braves’ hopes to get into the postseason – whittled down to the final game of the regular season – were now entrusted to a rookie reliever and not, as the plan had been, the pitcher widely expected to win the National League Cy Young Award.
In this season, when injuries have chewed up most of the team’s star players, it was just one more burden to carry.
“We’ve done it all year,” Olson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution after the Braves had found a way to get into the postseason, beating the New York Mets 3-0 in the second game of the doubleheader at Truist Park to clinch their wild-card berth and seventh consecutive postseason. “You’ve got to find a way to be the next man up.”
Olson was speaking in the din of the Braves clubhouse, where players, coaches and staff were screaming, hugging, spraying each other with champagne and beer, taking selfies with one another and firing up cigars.
From the outside, it might have seemed like an overenthusiastic display, especially given the understated on-field celebration. This has often seemed like a season of underachievement, with the Braves a shell of their past editions because of the slew of injuries, a downturn of the offense and an inability to find a groove.
Monday was a fitting conclusion to this season of upheaval. In the first game of the doubleheader, the Braves were unable to hold a 3-0 lead in the top of the eighth as the Mets lit up rookie Spencer Schwellenbach (after a brilliant seven innings) and the indomitable reliever duo of Joe Jimenez and Raisel Iglesias for, in succession, two doubles, three singles, a sacrifice fly and a home run to take a 6-3 lead. Then, after a wild rally in the bottom of the inning, capped by Ozzie Albies’ bases-loaded double to retake the lead at 7-6, the Braves were done in in the top of the ninth by MVP candidate Francisco Lindor, whose two-run bomb gave the Mets the game.
It was a stunner. Before Monday, the Braves had won 72 of 75 games in which they led after seven.
But followers of the 2024 Braves probably had an inkling that it would not be so easy. It has been a year marked by season-ending injuries to the reigning NL MVP (Ronald Acuña Jr.), Cy Young candidate Spencer Strider, two-time All-Star third baseman Austin Riley and key reliever A.J. Minter, as well as IL stints for All-Stars Max Fried and Albies and superior center fielder Michael Harris II. The Braves, expected to be one of the fiercest offenses in baseball, hit .227 in May. Over a 19-game stretch in July and August, they lost six games in a row, then won six of seven and then lost another six games in a row.
They lost the season series to the White Sox, quite arguably the worst team in baseball history. They were continually handcuffed by mediocre pitchers (as they were again in the second game Monday, when Joey Lucchesi limited the Braves to one run in six innings. Lucchesi had a 4.70 ERA this season – in Triple-A.). And, not least, they appeared on the verge of a series win over the Mets last week before a hurricane intervened.
But the regular season ended in the way that perhaps it was supposed to, with a team’s grit and steadiness being rewarded with a raucous locker-room celebration.
“I’m just enjoying this, because we got here the hard way,” assistant coach Eddie Pérez told The AJC.
Holmes, the 28-year-old rookie called up from Gwinnett in June after 10 years in the minors, gave his team four shutout innings. Watching with appreciation and gratitude was Fried, the free agent to be whose continued employment with the Braves was heavily dependent on Holmes.
Playing such a versatile role on the staff, “it’s one of the hardest jobs to do in a bullpen, so for him to be able to step up again and be able to give the effort that he did, I couldn’t be happier for him,” Fried said. “He deserves all the praise.”
The first run was produced in the second inning by Gio Urshela, a player picked up in August who has been the starting third baseman after he’d been deemed expendable by the Tigers.
The difficult path is only continuing. It’s doubtful that Sale, who has been dealing with the back spasms since his most recent start (against Cincinnati Sept. 19) but had expected to pitch, can play in the wild-card round against San Diego. (General manager Alex Anthopoulos called him “day to day.”) Manager Brian Snitker may have to rely on bullpen arms for Game 1 Tuesday. And they’ll be playing after being on the field for 18 tense innings on Monday and flying to San Diego, where the host team spent the day resting for the best-of-three series.
Olson found a silver lining. Unlike last year, there won’t be any questions about why they couldn’t hit effectively after earning a bye for the wild-card round. He was not concerned about the extra load.
“We all played in the minor leagues,” Olson told The AJC. “We’ve all had the most messed-up schedules you’ve ever seen in your life, on buses and stuff. We’ve become callous to that.”
There was, of course, praise for the man at the helm. Snitker’s steadiness and unflappability grounded a team through a turbulent 162 games. Prior to the first game Monday, players were relaxed in the clubhouse. There was no team meeting, even after the first game with the revelation that the team’s ace had been scratched.
Pérez chatted easily with Acuña, Albies, Urshela, Orlando Arcia and Ramón Laureano in a corner of the locker room. Harris walked in pulling a rolling suitcase and acting as if he hadn’t a care in the world. He had spent part of the morning taking Cash, his one-year-old golden doodle, for a walk.
“When bad things happen, everybody looks to your leader,” catcher Travis d’Arnaud said. “‘Snit’ was very calm and stayed the same the whole time and believed in us still no matter what, and I think it rubbed off on all of us.”
Pérez, a backup catcher on the great Braves teams of the 90′s, repeated an observation he has surely made previously.
“That’s Bobby Cox,” Pérez said of Snitker. “I see him as Bobby Cox.”
On paper, you have to doubt the Braves’ chances in the postseason. But consider this: In the past four World Series (not counting the shortened 2020 season), the NL representative has won 93, 88, 87 and 84 games. Playoff games are not played on paper. The Braves fit right in with an 89-73 record.
Said d’Arnaud, “Now our foot’s in the door and hopefully we can keep it going.”
Wherever the road leads, it probably won’t be easy.
