3 takeaways from Braves' enthralling series win over the defending world champs
The Braves were close to another sweep of the defending world champs during one of the most exciting series of the season.
Another series, another two wins for the National League-leading Braves. As always, the Bravos returned home to the Atlanta faithful at Truist Park, providing an exciting show against the reigning World Series champions.
There was a lot to like during this series including some unforgettable moments that will be talked about for the rest of the year.
Exciting moments from the Braves series win over the Rangers
Travis d'Arnaud lights up the A in two starts
This is my formal apology to Travis d'Arnaud.
The first article I ever wrote for this site was "5 Braves players that could take a step back in 2024." d'Arnaud was the cover photo on that story and in it, I explained that after a huge regression from his All-Star 2022 season in 2023, d'Arnaud was probably due for another average season in 2024.
It's obviously still early but, if his series against the Rangers is any indication, I'm in for a very bad take.
In the first two games of the series, he had five at-bats, homering in four of them. That included a three-home run night that saw him drive in six of the eight runs for the Braves in game one. And another long shot in game two after being walked twice and hit once in his other plate appearances. Aside from his pinch-hit flyout with one out in the ninth inning of the Bravos' 6-4 loss in the season finale last night, d'Arnaud's series couldn't have gone much better.
All three of his home runs in game one were big momentum builders and were no-doubters, well over 100 miles per hour off the bat and the shortest one going just a measly 429 feet. None was bigger than his grand slam, the hardest hit of the three, a line shot deposited into the left-center field stands in the sixth inning, breaking a 3-3 tie.
Travis d'Arnaud's 3-Homer Game in One Video#BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/NSGdUNt17d
— 680 The Fan (@680TheFan) April 20, 2024
The fourth home run was an eighth-inning bomb that just got out of left field in game two, extending Atlanta's lead to 5-2.
And believe it or not, those were his first four home runs of his season, as leading up to this game, my preseason prediction had been relatively correct. But in one series, he completely flipped the script.
In 14 games, he was hitting just .200 with four RBI and a very poor .561 OPS. He now has a .255 average with 12 RBI and a very good .922 OPS.
Only time will tell if he can keep his hot streak going into the next series with Miami, but for now, d'Arnaud has squashed any doubts about his ability to replace the production of the injured Sean Murphy, who is slowly beginning to work his way back to action.
Braves first baseman Matt Olson amidst an all-time bad stretch
All-time bad isn't hyperbole either. He's currently struck out in five-straight plate appearances after a four-strike-out game last night in the 6-4 loss to the Rangers. He didn't record a hit in the series against Texas and in his last two series' he is 2-for-20 with 10 strikeouts.
The good news is, the Braves still went 5-1 over that horrid stretch for Olson which speaks again to the depth of the Braves lineup and the ability for a player like Olson, who was in the NL MVP race a year ago, to struggle, but still not hurt the team all that much.
Right now, he is sitting at a .231 batting average with three home runs, 13 RBI, and a .798 OPS. Ironically, as bad as his start was perceived a season ago, his first 20 games of 2023 were better than his first 20 games of 2024, as at this point last year he was hitting .266 with six bombs and 20 RBI.
The #Braves have such a stacked lineup that few even notice Matt Olson is hitless in the past 4 games, 1-for-16 in the past 5, and homerless with 15 strikeouts and a .195 average in the past 11 games. Because ATL is 8-3 in that span and scored 5 or more runs in 9 of those games.
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) April 21, 2024
I'm no hitting expert by any means, but it's always been a surprise that he's been as consistently elite at the plate as he has with his swing. It's a long, almost loopy swing that from my vantage point, seems like it has a lot holes for opposing pitchers to attack.
Every time I think that the pitchers have him figured out, he finds ways to heat up. He did it last year and he can do it again.
Last year, moving him from the two-hole to cleanup was the biggest catalyst. He's already in cleanup this season so it's not likely that Snitker will move him again. He'll have to figure it out from the four-hole this year and with Austin Riley hitting in front of you and the red-hot Ozuna behind, that's certainly an achievable task.
It's time to see Bryce Elder in the rotation again
I know that it has already been announced that Elder will make the next start against the Marlins on Monday.
But it's taken too long after Strider was ruled out for the season to get Elder back in the rotation.
The second half of his 2023 was underwhelming and the last verifiable memory the Braves have of him is him giving up a moonshot to Bryce Harper in game three of the NLDS. But all of that doesn't erase the fact that he was an All-Star in 2023, deservedly so.
And it's not that Darius Vines hasn't done his job in the two starts he's made. A 4.66 ERA in 9.2 innings over games against two powerful offenses in the Astros and Rangers is impressive.
His stuff on Sunday night though, was less than impressive. He just didn't have his changeup and though he gave up four runs over five innings, it could have been much worse. A solo home run from Evan Carter and a go-ahead three-run shot from Andrew Knizner were both on non-competitive first-pitch changeups that sat up in the zone, a mistake that pitchers at any level can't afford to make.
Kiz Krush! #StraightUpTX pic.twitter.com/K0TfvZycmy
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) April 22, 2024
And it wasn't like those were the only two mistakes he made either. He made more than he got lucky on and was fortunate to get out of there with the game he had.
His pitching style is very similar to Elder's but Vines does not have the sinker that made Elder so successful last season. Both rely on getting soft contact rather than striking guys out and Elder has proven over a whole half of a season that he can do it. Even with the bad second half last year, Elder saw a hard-hit rate of 41% last season.
The great Baseball Savant did not have the numbers yet from Vines' start last night, but in his first start alone, his hard-hit rate was 58%, meaning that he got very lucky against the Astros.
With the amount of batted balls, he is set to allow with his style, that number has to be much lower and it's a warning sign a blowup is coming sooner rather than later.
All eyes will be on Elder to see if he can lock up that fifth rotation spot with his opportunity to shine against the Marlins.
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