By Rosemary Harper
The Braves were officially crowned NL East division champs on September 30. They have now won the East for 4 straight years. The Braves have won 21 division titles since moving to Atlanta. That’s a record- more division titles than any other MLB team ever.
And let me tell you: it has been a heck of a ride to get here. This is the story of the Atlanta Braves 2021 season.
Beginning
April-July was a total headache. There’s no better way to put it. The first four months of the season was just a succession of gut-punches.
The Braves started 0-4, after being swept in their opening series against the Phillies and then losing to the Nationals.
They won the next four games, clawing their way back to 4-4. Then came that Phillies game- the one that was tied 6-6 going into the 9th inning, before Alec Bohm of the Phillies was called safe on a close play at home. Replay clearly showed that his foot skipped over the plate and never touched it, but the umpires upheld the call (it was widely considered one of the worst calls of the season, by the way). The Phillies won 7-6, denying Atlanta a prime opportunity to get above .500 for the first time. Thankssss, umpires.
Atlanta was supposed to host the 2021 MLB All-Star Game. This is the MLB-equivalent of hosting the Super Bowl, and it was supposed to bring thousands of fans and millions of dollars in revenue to the city. But, in early April, MLB decided to strip the game from Atlanta and relocate it to Colorado, due to new Georgia voting laws that the league deemed racist. This was a total gut punch to the players, who were looking forward to the pride of hosting such a big event in their city.
Marcell Ozuna was a critical part of the 2020 Braves squad that came within a game of the World Series. He hit an NL-best .338 in 2020, and was in MVP conversations. He brought excitement to the club with his “Mix It Up” and selfie celebrations. But in late May of this year, he broke and/or dislocated several fingers. He was expected to miss at least 6 weeks. A couple days later, he was arrested on charges of domestic violence and aggravated assault after a violent altercation between him and his wife. Words really can’t describe how terrible and shocking this sequence of events was. Ozuna hasn’t played since, for obvious reasons.
Freddie Freeman, who is one of the best to ever play the game and is, well, Freddie Freeman was hitting .235 through the end of May. ‘Nuff said.
Ronald Acuña Jr. tore his ACL on July 10. The best baseball player on the planet--and the engine that makes the Braves--suffered basically the worst injury possible. Just like that. That, my friend, is the definition of a worst-case scenario.
The Braves did not get above .500 until August 4. They were at .500 six different times, and all six times, they lost the next game, pushing them back to more losses than wins. They were 4-4 on April 10, 12-12 on April 28, 17-17 on May 9, 24-24 on May 25, 29-29 on June 8, and 44-44 on July 10. They lost every one of those games. It was like a sick joke. Actually, the first ⅔ of the season was like a sick joke.
Travis d’Arnaud, who won a Silver Slugger in 2020 and hit .321 last year, tore a thumb ligament and was out for several months. In the meantime, Atlanta had a revolving door of old, washed-up catchers (7, to be exact) who tried to fill in for d’Arnaud and did basically nothing good offensively.
The entire Opening Day outfield had to be replaced and rebuilt several times, with Ozuna arrested, Acuna injured, and Pache sent down to Triple-A.
July 23: The season was about ⅔ of the way done. The Braves were in 3rd place in the East, 6 games behind the Mets. The Braves had a 6.1% chance of winning the division. Here is the part where the miracle happens ↓
The Resolution
Below are the 3 main factors that turned the season around for the Braves.
The Trade Deadline was July 30. By the end of that day, the Braves had picked up 5 important players: Joc Pederson (outfielder), Jorge Soler (outfielder), Adam Duvall (outfielder), Eddie Rosario (outfielder), and Richard Rodriguez (reliever). Pederson has posted a .323 on-base percentage and clubbed 6 home runs since joining Atlanta. Soler has come through in so many big moments, hitting 13 home runs and driving in 32 runs since joining the Braves. Duvall is a literal 2-out RBI wizard. He leads the NL in RBIs (112) and is second in home runs (38). Rosario has hit .270 with 7 home runs since joining the squad. Rodriguez has posted a 2.49 ERA in 25 ⅓ innings pitched with Atlanta. Clearly, the Braves completely rebuilt their outfield, which was badly needed, and bolstered their bullpen, which at times has been more than shaky. Alex Anthopolous, the Braves general manager, is a magician. He gave the Bravos exactly what they needed to succeed during the home stretch of the season.
Austin. Riley. I have never been more proud of a player than I am of Austin Riley. He burst onto the scene in 2019 with an electric May and June, before pitchers figured him out and he began to struggle mightily at the plate. Riley spent a lot of 2019 in the minor leagues. At the start of 2020, he had to battle it out with Johan Camargo to see who would get the third-base job. Riley won out but hit a meager .239 last year. Offseason talks centered around whether the Braves should keep or trade Riley, with some concluding that he would never hit for average but would give us a solid 30 homers every year, and that would have to be enough.
Let’s just do a quick scan of his 2021 stats: .303 batting average, 33 home runs, 105 RBIs, 177 hits, and 52 walks. Yeah, I think we’ll keep him.
Riley has gone from a player that his teammates jokingly called “Ocho,” because he was usually pulled in the 8th inning for a defensive replacement, to one of the most elite players in baseball. He should be the NL MVP. Period. Riley matches up with Fernando Tatis Jr. and Bryce Harper in nearly every offensive category, and his defense has been outstanding as well. Give him all the credit because, without him, we would never be where we are now. M-V-P.
The key game of the season for the Braves was August 11. The Bravos were playing the Reds at Truist Park. Atlanta climbed to an early 5-0 lead, before blowing it late and having to go to extra innings. The Reds took a 1 run lead in the 11th. In the bottom of the 11th inning, with 2 outs and 2 on, when all hope seemed lost (and I was literally saying to myself, “It’s not gonna happen, we’ll try again tomorrow”), a miracle happened. Ozzie Albies demolished a ball to right field. It was a 3-run, walk-off homer. The Braves won the game. And because they did, they took sole possession of first place in the East for the first time all season.
And they never looked back.
Sources
Burns, Gabriel. “Braves Win 21st Division Title, Most in MLB History.” Atlanta Journal
Constitution, October 1, 2021, https://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-braves/braves-
win-21st-division-title-most-in-mlb-history/AJB574GVTFDDVBESHZ4LDTCXCE/.
Accessed October 3, 2021.
“Philadelphia Phillies at Atlanta Braves Box Score, April 11, 2021”. Baseball Reference.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ATL/ATL202104110.shtml. Accessed
October 3, 2021.
“Austin Riley Stats”. Baseball Reference, https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/
r/rileyau01.shtml. Accessed October 3, 2021.
“Freddie Freeman 2021 Game by Game Batting Logs”. Baseball Almanac, https://www.
baseball-almanac.com/players/hittinglogs.php?p=freemfr01&y=2021. Accessed
October 3, 2021.
“Marcell Ozuna Stats”. Baseball Reference, https://www.baseball-reference.com/players
/o/ozunama01.shtml. Accessed October 3, 2021.
“Travis d’Arnaud Stats”. Baseball Reference, https://www.baseball-reference.com/player
s/d/darnatr01.shtm. Accessed October 3, 2021.
“Joc Pederson Stats”. Baseball Reference, https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/
p/pederjo01.shtml. Accessed October 3, 2021.
“Eddie Rosario Stats”. Baseball Reference, https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/
r/rosared01.shtml. Accessed October 3, 2021.
“Adam Duvall Stats”. Baseball Reference, https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/
d/duvalad01.shtml. Accessed October 3, 2021.
“Richard Rodriguez Stats”. Baseball Reference, https://www.baseball-reference.com/pla
yers/r/rodriri05.shtml. Accessed October 3, 2021.
Willis, Kris. “Braves Move Above .500 for First Time This Season”. Talking Chop,
https://www.talkingchop.com/2021/8/6/22612155/the-daily-chop-braves-move-a
bove-500-for-first-time-this-season. Accessed October 3, 2021.
Braves Twitter Account
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