Three takeaways from the Braves: Riley’s moving day, the woes of the Braves’ 5th starter, Kelenic in the lead

ATLANTA – The nearly two-month malaise could be over for the Atlanta Braves.

Beginning with a 6-3 victory Thursday in Baltimore and through a weekend series against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Braves hit .297 with nine home runs while averaging seven runs per game, including one .914 OPS during a three-game winning streak before Sunday’s 8-6 loss. Before those four games, the Braves had lost 24 of 41 games and were hitting .217 with 37 home runs and a .631 OPS while averaging just under 3.4 runs.

“We’re healing, they’re starting to be more themselves,” manager Brian Snitker said, referring to the Braves’ hitters after helping cut the NL East’s 10-game deficit to eight behind the Phillies since Wednesday.

Three takeaways from the Braves’ rise:

Austin Riley’s emotional resurgence

While Austin Riley battled through 11 pitches at bat in the eighth inning Sunday, committing three complete fielders from Rays reliever Jason Adam before hitting a 437-foot two-run homer that was his third in as many days, all he could think of Mike Brumley.

Brumley, 61, was the Braves’ former minor league hitting coordinator who has continued to work with Riley since leaving the organization following the 2021 season. Brumley died in a car accident Saturday night.

“I got a text around 2:30 this morning and I’ve been up ever since,” said Riley, who fought back tears as he discussed their relationship. “There are very few people who have been role models in my baseball career, my dad being No. 1 and Mike Brumley being No. 2. But it’s not about me, I feel for his family, his children and everyone he was close to. Such a tragic and tragic day. Prayers to his family.

“There are very few people who have been role models in my baseball career. My dad is number one and Mike Brumley is number two.

Austin Riley comments on former Braves coach Mike Brumley, who was killed in a car crash Saturday. pic.twitter.com/kJ76TT2l2F

– Bally Sports: Braves (@BravesOnBally) June 16, 2024

Riley was with Brumley a few days earlier in Baltimore, working to correct flaws that had appeared in his swing.

“There were a few things mechanically that were kind of tying me up,” said Riley, who came out of the session feeling good, then went 6-for-10 with a double, three home runs, a strikeout. batting and eight RBIs. in the three-game series against the Rays.

Before that, he hit .161 with no homers, 17 strikeouts and two RBIs in his previous 16 games since returning from a two-week absence due to a lateral muscle strain.

“With that at-bat, he was on my mind all the time, really all day,” said Riley, whose 11 at-bats were the longest of his career to end in a home run. “Besides my dad talking about my swing every day, I talk to (Brumley) regularly. So it’s going to be difficult moving forward, just from a mental standpoint, just trying to figure things out. »

Back rotation struggles

The extra rest Atlanta’s starters receive in most rounds has worked well for the veterans at the top of the rotation, particularly Chris Sale (9-2, 2.98 ERA) and Reynaldo López (MLB, leader 1, 69 ERA). The strategy was mostly aimed at the duo because Sale pitched so few innings over his past five injury-plagued seasons and Lopez was a reliever who hadn’t pitched as many as 70 innings since 2019.

But if the Braves want to continue using five or six starters at every turn in the rotation — they say they will for now — they need to trade for another proven starter, unless they’re truly confident in Ian Anderson’s expected return after the All-Star break. of Tommy John surgery.

The players they plugged into back-end duties struggled, with seven pitchers making 16 starts at the Nos. 5 and 6 positions and achieving a cumulative 1–10 record and 7.40 ERA. That includes top prospect Hurston Waldrep, who has a 16.71 ERA in his first MLB starts, including no decisions on Sunday.

Waldrep made his MLB debut last week and his second start on Sunday, with a fourth-inning blowout in each. Four of the six runs he allowed Sunday came on a fourth-inning grand slam by Ben Rortvedt, on an 0-2 fastball up and down, but not enough or enough. The previous three reached on consecutive hits and walks.

He has a good fastball and a terrific spreader, but hasn’t looked ready for the big stage after being promoted with just 84 2/3 innings and 18 minor league starts.

“Absolutely, he needs more time,” Snitker said after the Braves moved Waldrep back to Triple-A after the game. “I told him, he has stuff, he has intangibles, he has everything, he just lacks experience.”

No. 2 prospect Spencer Schwellenbach is 0-2 with a 6.32 ERA in his first three MLB starts, but pitched six solid four-hit, two-run innings Wednesday in Baltimore, and he looks like he might be willing to stay.

Less than three weeks after losing superstar leadoff hitter Ronald Acuña Jr. to a season-ending knee injury, the Braves placed center fielder and first-replacement leadoff Michael Harris II on the 15-day IL on Friday. with level 2 hamstring strain.

Enter Jarred Kelenic, who moved from left field to center and the bottom third of the order to the top, going 4 for 10 with two home runs in his first two games there.

Kelenic’s three homers over the past seven games have matched his total in his first 49 games for Atlanta, and his .847 OPS over the past 30 days is third-highest among the Braves behind the NL and RBI leader Marcell Ozuna (1,000) and Matt Olson. (.929).

(Austin Riley top photo: Matthew Grimes Jr. / Atlanta Braves/Getty Images)