Today's Three Things: Braves can't get clutch hits in loss to Brewers
Eli White and Drake Baldwin did their best, but the Braves offense couldn't complete the drill
The Atlanta Braves dropped game two to the Milwaukee Brewers 7-2 in Truist Park on Tuesday night, officially dropping the series.
Here’s Today’s Three Things from the contest.
The Turning Point
The bottom of the 7th.
With reliever Aaron Ashby taking over, Atlanta quickly loaded the bases with no outs thanks to a Matt Olson single and walks from both catchers, Drake Baldwin (working as the designated hitter) and Sean Murphy.
And then the trouble started.
Michael Harris II struck out swinging on three pitches, with the third being a down-and-away slider well off the plate. Ozzie Albies hit one back to Ashby, where he was able to cut down Matt Olson at home for the second out. It wasn’t a NOBLETIGER, however, as Atlanta did get a single run thanks to an Eli White RBI walk before Nachon Alvarez struck out to end the inning.
That Baldwin run was the only to score from Atlanta’s eight walks in this one, thanks to going just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. The Braves left fourteen on base for the contest.
Today’s Player of the Game
It’s Eli White.
Fresh off of his two homers at the Speedway Classic, White was on base three times tonight thanks to a solo homer in the fourth, a double, and the aforementioned walk. In his seven starts since Ronald Acuña Jr. went on the injured list, White’s hit .296 and accounted for nine RBI.
Owing to the defensive issues of Jurickson Profar - more on that in a moment - this stretch prior to Ronald’s return feels like it’s potentially an audition for White to be a bigger part of the outfield mix next season. Since the designated hitter spot will be open, Profar (assuming he’s still here and not traded or cut over the offseason) can get out of the field more often and even when he does play in left, White can be inserted late as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement.
What You’ll Be Talking About
Jurickson Profar’s terrible defense.
He has not been a good defender in multiple years, mind you, but that would be an improvement over what the Braves are currently getting. Profar entered the game with a -5 Fielding Run Value in just 272 defensive innings and didn’t make that better tonight.
He allowed a triple to one of Drake Baldwin’s biggest Rookie of the Year competitors, Isaac Collins, in the sixth inning by completely misplaying a liner hit right to him. It’s a bad look:
And the broadcast angle is underselling how bad this route was - here’s the High Home camera (I LOVE having access to the MLB Research Tool) and you can see where Profar broke both in and to the left on a ball that was behind him and to the right.
I really don’t know what the future plans are for Atlanta’s outfield, but if they keep Profar for next season, get ready to see a lot of defensive replacements after they institute last season’s ‘Jorge Soler Rules’.
Looking for more discussion about this game?
Here’s tonight’s Postcast, with me and Locked On Braves host Jake Mastroianni, as we went live to break down the loss.
What’s Next for the Braves?
The Braves are sending their best healthy starter to the mound, looking to avoid a sweep. Spencer Strider (5-8, 3.71) takes on Jose Quintana (8-4, 3.50) at 7:15 PM ET.