Braves Are On Top As The Third Third Begins
On Thursday, July 30, the Braves edged Washington 5-4 to win the first game of the final third of the regular season. Atlanta brought a 63-45 record into that game. 108 games constitute two- thirds of baseball's 162 game regular season marathon. Now at 64- 45, the Braves hold a seven game lead over the Phillies. Much of that lead- 4.5 games to be exact- has been built since the all star break, during which time Bryce Harper and associates have gone 3-8, to Los Bravos' 9-5.
And the trade deadline is just a couple days away, when many teams will declare their intent by becoming out- loud buyers or sellers.
The Braves have needs, as do all clubs, except the Dodgers, who have a couple of wants. Atlanta needs at least one proven dependable starting pitcher and ideally, a decent outfielder to fill the hole left by....well..left by many....Kelenic, Profar, etc.
The recent return of one Ronald Acuna has helped by allowing the Braves to use Mauricio Dubon in the infield. And for the moment, rookie Jim Jarvis has been competent- plus at shortstop, which has been another wellspring of non- productive instability in the Atlanta lineup through mid- July.
The question is not whether the Braves will be buyers- rather it's more a question of just how much they are willing to spend to chase a flag now.
They have some well- regarded prospects in the pipeline, including pitchers Murphy, Caminiti, and Ritchie, plus position players Hartman, Gil and Southisene.
As always, the trick for Atlanta GM Alex Anthopoulos is simply to foretell the future . That's all. Just guess correctly what the future will bring.
Which of these prospects will mature quickly and have long, productive careers? Which of available trade targets would deliver reliably in the short term, and yet not become price- unavailable for the longer term?
Recent major victory for Anthopoulos? Chris Sale.
Recent major faux pas? Jurickson Profar, and HS Kim.
It ain't easy. Like baseball itself, if you get it right more than half of the time, consistently, you'll be a star.
The biggest quiet question is to what degree do you push your chips to the middle of the table? The 2021 Series win is getting a bit old. Go all in?
Or hang back, hopefully avoiding mortgaging your future for a short term change that goes nowhere?
August in MLB can be a slog. But this year, Atlanta is in the hunt for the big prize. That's not the case every year. The next third will tell much of the story.
Patrick Conarro
RamblinSports