Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: The Atlanta Braves take on the St. Louis Cardinals this weekend…the tale of two different teams.  The Cards are hot, winning now seven in a row and the Braves, well aren’t.
Mike Foltynewicz was coming off one of his best performances, but just didn’t have it against the Cards on Friday night.  Lasting only 2.2 innings on the mound, giving up seven hits, four walks, and six runs.  Guess it was the wrong time for me to pick him up in fantasy.Â
Ender Inciarte got the game going early on as he singled to start the game.  Unfortunately, Brandon Phillips then grounded into a double play.  Atlanta got the leadoff guy on again in the 2nd, but grounded into another double play.  Third inning, same thing.  Leadoff man on, then another single and a walk.  Bases loaded for Freddie Freeman!! Grounded into a double play.  That scored a run, but we wanted more.
The Cards came out swinging on Friday and beat the Braves.  We’ll get them tonight though!
For a full recap, check ours out here
Braves lose 8-5
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ender Inciarte CF | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .296 | .342 | .392 |
| Brandon Phillips 3B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .282 | .325 | .415 |
| Freddie Freeman 1B | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | .313 | .415 | .633 |
| Nick Markakis RF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .278 | .361 | .392 |
| Kurt Suzuki C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .262 | .338 | .512 |
| Matt Adams LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .275 | .318 | .511 |
| Ozzie Albies 2B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .214 | .313 | .464 |
| Dansby Swanson SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .208 | .281 | .304 |
| Mike Foltynewicz P | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .061 | .061 | .061 |
| Â Â Â Luke Jackson P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Â Â Â Sam Freeman P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Â Â Â Jace Peterson PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .200 | .288 | .285 |
| Â Â Â Jason Motte P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Â Â Â Rex Brothers P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Â Â Â Danny Santana PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .213 | .253 | .387 |
| Team Totals | 31 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 36 | .226 | .333 | .323 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Foltynewicz, L (10-7) | 2.2 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4.29 |
| Luke Jackson | 2.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3.49 |
| Sam Freeman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.48 |
| Jason Motte | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.68 |
| Rex Brothers | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6.08 |
| Team Totals | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 9.00 |
Brandon Phillips clears waivers
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: So yes, Brandon Phillips cleared waivers, but that doesn’t mean much.  Teams send pretty much all players through waivers, we just don’t hear about it.  Sure, it could mean the Braves will trade Phillips at some point now, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to. Â
Phillips is now the Braves third baseman and with Johan Camargo out, they don’t have other options right now.  Adonis Garcia is still somewhere on the DL, Freddie Freeman isn’t going back to third base, Rio Ruiz could get called up but not sure how much faith the Braves front office has in him anymore for some reason…I don’t know.
The Rays are supposedly interested in Phillips, the Indians are a possibility.  There are definitely teams that could use Phillips. We’ll see in the upcoming days what the Braves decide to do.  Personally, I don’t see many pros in keeping Phillips, especially if the Braves can get something of value for him.
"Atlanta Braves veteran second baseman Brandon Phillips has cleared waivers and is eligible to be traded anywhere, sources tell FanRag Sports.The Braves have talked to a few teams about Phillips, and his overall stats (8 homers, 41 RBI, .285/.325/.418) and rep as a nice finisher (.309 batting average and .759 OPS in the second half the past three seasons compared to .269 and .683 in the first) could make him interesting in a rough market for hitters.The Braves are only responsible for the pro-rated portion of $1 million for the remainder of the year, so any acquiring team would only have to pay $300,000 or so. The Reds are picking up the remaining $13 million on his contract, which expires at season’s end."
Next: Braves Complete Another Trade Tonight... Kinda
Previewing Potential Free Agents
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: 2018 is supposed to be the Braves season, right?  That’s what we’ve been told for years now.  The season of 2018, the Braves will be contenders.  We’re almost there folks, almost there!
Who the Braves will sign this offseason is another question. Â Lots of players will be available this season, will the Braves spend the cash? Â That may be why the Braves are trading away talent for cash right now. Â
One thing is for sure, this offseason will be fun!
"The Atlanta Braves roster is a mix of a lot of up-and-coming talent and veterans who will have expiring contracts this season. Here is the full list of potential free-agents and whether or not the Braves should move on.Tyler Flowers-  Tyler Flowers is one of the more interesting names on this list. Flowers has a $4MM team option that the Braves could opt to use. His contract has a$300K buyout option as well. If you have been paying attention then you know Flowers has proven himself well worth the four-million he would be owed on the team option. Whether or not he is the primary catcher the Braves should bring Flowers back for at least another season.Kurt Suzuki- The Braves benefited signing the veteran Suzuki to a team friendly deal that has worked out well for both sides. With that said it is time to let Suzuki go and look for a starting upgrade or a better platoon to pair with Flowers."