SAN DIEGO, CA - April 1: Hitting Coach Victor Rodriguez of the San Diego Padres watches batting practice before the game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Petco Park on April 1, 2023 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Matt Thomas/San Diego Padres/Getty Images)
The Shambling, Half-Dead Braves Have Gone Far Enough
The Atlanta Braves will play their second elimination game in three days Wednesday afternoon, when Max Fried leads them against Joe Musgrove of the San Diego Padres in Game 2 of their National League Wild Card series. With all due respect to Atlanta’s handful of healthy players, the Braves are not wanted here! Four of their, what, six best players are out; the team only nosed into the Wild Card at all because of a preposterous first-in-history gap-day doubleheader, where everyone knew going in that both teams could advance with a split. It’s hard to imagine a less legitimate playoff berth than one earned in the second of these two games, after your opponent has already lost all motivation.
It’s clear that God has seen enough of the Braves. Three road teams won on Tuesday, including the even more road weary New York Mets, who haven’t played a game at home since Sept. 22 and who failed America by going hangover mode in Monday’s late game and allowing Atlanta to shamble onwards. The Braves, meanwhile, advanced one single runner to third base in nine innings Tuesday night, struck out 15 times, and were ruthlessly blanked by playoff debutante Michael King and a pair of Padres relievers.
For lack of anything even vaguely resembling a suitable alternative, Atlanta manager Brian Snitker handed the ball to A.J. Smith-Shawver, a 21-year-old prospect with fewer than 30 total innings of work in the majors, who threw 87 pitches for the big club this year, all of them back on May 23. Smith-Shawver watched his team squander a first-inning scoring opportunity, then took the mound in a Braves uniform for just the second time in 2024. Seven pitches later, this happened:
