In the regular season, it is the players that produce the most over the long 162-game season that are celebrated the most. It is a marathon, not a sprint, and the individual moments are certainly lessened except for the truly crazy ones. However, the playoffs are different. A player can emerge from nowhere or coming off a dreadful season and have an outsized impact on the team's fortunes. On Thursday, Atlanta Braves reliever Ray Kerr did just that in the Braves' series-clinching victory over the Phillies in Game Three.
Atlanta had been telegraphing for a while that they were entertaining using Kerr as an opener, but no one really thought much of it. It made sense to use a lefty to the top of the Phillies' order with Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, and there was a chance that he would go another inning, but most assumed that Grant Holmes would get the bulk of the work.
Instead, it was Kerr that was the star of the early portions of Game Three and set the tone for the Braves.
Ray Kerr acknowledges the crowd as he exits to a rousing ovation 👏 pic.twitter.com/71o847DFZN
— MLB (@MLB) October 2, 2026
Ray Kerr came out of nowhere to be one of the stars of Game Three for the Braves
To see a guy like Kerr, who is coming off a major arm injury and who was largely considered an afterthought on the Braves roster, come out and shove on the biggest stage was just awesome. He gave the Braves 3.1 innings of scoreless baseball and handled the fearsome top of the Phillies lineup like a seasoned vet. Upon being pulled, Kerr made sure to drink in the moment, as he should have.
It was a perfect example of what makes playoff baseball so amazing. For the entire season, Austin Riley was a source of ire from Braves fans, and he earned it with some of the worst at-bats you will ever see. However, in Game One, he hit a homer that single-handedly changed the course of the game. You don't hear folks complaining him now (at least not a lot).
When the Braves won the World Series in 2021, it was Eddie Rosario, Tyler Matzek, and Jorge Soler that cemented their places in Braves playoff legend. Kerr, Michael Harris, and Michael Harris II may have joined them. Now, we get to see who is going to step up and shine against the Dodgers. We can't wait.
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