There's a Looney Tunes cartoon where Bugs and Daffy are competing for applause onstage, and Daffy's grand finale involves shallowing nitroglycerin and essentially blowing himself up, just so the audience will love it. And as they do, Bugs congratulates him on it, saying "they want more", to which Daffy, ascending to the afterlife, responds "yes, it's a great trick, but I can only do it once"
The Atlanta Braves.
At least...that's what I thought the Braves were til this month.
You see, the Nationals have proven that capitalizing on momentum by pulling out all the stops and going for broke at the deadline hoping it stays on isn't a long-lasting business model. Last season, when the Braves went crazy in July and rode that high all the way to the World Series, I was entertained, of course, but I spent a lot of time wondering what their plan was to repeat the success. Because there was the threat of Freddie Freeman leaving, and he did, as well as some of the contracts being too big to re-sign [prompting the loss of Joc Pederson and Jorge Soler]. And I'm not saying that everything good about that Braves team came in July, but a lot of it did. And with the Mets, Phillies and Marlins preparing to compete for 2022, I just thought it'd be a lot trickier for them to sustain their success if they went with the plan that got them the ring.
However...the plan of 'being mediocre for two months and then getting hot midway through the year' seems to still be in place this year, and so far it's been working well for the Braves. In June, the Braves are 17-3, and before June they were 23-27. They have gone from a middle of the pack team to a team that's well over .500 with so many pieces working and so much moving in the right direction. Sportswriters point to a 'closed door meeting' in June that turned things around, and I'm skeptical that it's always gonna be as simple as a 'closed door meeting' to turn things around. This month the Marlins had a 'closed door meeting', but it wasn't a 'Mattingly wants to turn the team around' meeting, it was an intervention to get Jazz Chisholm to stop acting like a jackass.
Whatever it is, the results can't be argued with. Swanson, Riley, Acuna and Olson are hitting really well, with Riley leading the team in homers with 18. Contreras and d'Arnaud have made an excellent battery at catcher, and the NL having a DH now means that both of them can be in the lineup in the same night and perform independently of each other. Michael Harris has been having an excellent rookie year, hitting .333 with 13 RBIs in 24 games. Orlando Arcia has been excellent filling in for Ozzie Albies, hitting .329. The rotation has evened out to a decent, consistent order, and Anderson and Morton have brought their ERAs under 5. Kenley Jansen's actually a great closer still, and has 18 saves to show for it. And this Spencer Strider kid might be the answer to a lot of the Braves' questions.
A lot is going right. I know June can't last forever, but it's illuminated the best qualities of this team, and proven that they can contend. Who knows what it says for their postseason prospects, but they certainly look good now. Of course, I'll be seeing them live against my Phils in a few days, so hopefully they won't completely overpower my hometown team.
Coming Tonight: The Guardians just cut Oscar Mercado. Why? Cause there's a new Oscar in town.
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