The Atlanta Braves completed their regular season schedule on Sunday as they shut out the New York Mets by the score of 5-0.
To say that the 2021 season didn’t go as planned for the Atlanta Braves is an understatement.
The Braves only got 82 games out of MVP candidate Ronald Acuna, Jr, their young ace, Mike Soroka, did not throw a pitch all year, and Travis d’Arnaud and Marcell Ozuna logged a combined 108 games between them.
In addition to the significant injuries the Braves endured, they also dealt with performance issues as well.
Starting outfielder Christian Pache did not play up to his potential, the offense got off to an extremely slow start, and the bullpen struggled mightily for the first half of the season.
Yet, the Braves persevered.
The Mets and Phillies failed to capitalize on Atlanta’s slow start and the Braves were able to tread water until reinforcements arrived in Atlanta in the form of Stephen Vogt, Joc Pederson, Adam Duvall, Jorge Soler, Richard Rodriguez, and Eddie Rosario.
The Braves got hot and would not look back as they played really good baseball the last two months of the season. They would finish the final portion of the season winning 37 of their last 57 games, a .649 winning percentage.
And Atlanta enters the 2021 post-season looking to keep that momentum going and advance one step further than they did in 2020 when they came within one game of representing the National League in the World Series.
The Atlanta Braves wrapped up the regular season in style with a win over the New York Mets.
The Braves cruised to victory in this one.
Jorge Soler got the Braves off on the right foot when he drove the second pitch of the game from Noah Syndergaard over the left-field wall for a solo home run.
Austin Riley added a run-scoring single and the Braves were off and running, leading the Mets 2-0 after one inning.
The rest of the game’s scoring took place during the bottom half of the third inning when the Braves got to Trevor Williams for three more runs, as Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley, and Adam Duvall all collected RBI’s.
The Mets failed to dent the scoreboard on Sunday as the Braves used six different pitchers to shut down the New York offense, finishing up the regular season on a high note with a victory over the Mets.
While all the Braves pitchers were effective today, maybe the most encouraging sign was the two scoreless innings thrown by Chris Martin.
Martin was a vital part of the Braves bullpen in the 2019 and 2020 seasons. But he has had a disappointing season thus far in 2021, consistently struggling with his location.
A focused and locating Chris Martin would be an extremely welcome addition to this Atlanta Braves bullpen in the postseason. As the old saying goes, you can never have too much pitching.
The Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers will collide for the right to play in the 2021 NLCS.
The Braves will head to Milwaukee to start a divisional series with the Brewers on Friday. Charlie Morton will get the ball for the Braves, and even though there has not been an official announcement, he will most likely be opposed by Corbin Burnes.
Burnes and Morton have each made one start in 2021 against their playoff opponent.
Morton gave up two runs in six innings to the Brewers and Burnes gave up five runs in four innings to the Braves, with both games occurring in the series in Atlanta in late July/early August.
The Braves and Brewers seem to be very evenly matched on paper and this should be a very exciting series.
The most wonderful time of the year is upon us! Who is ready for some Atlanta Braves playoff baseball?