ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves season has once again come to an end after another frustrating and disappointing loss at the hands of the rival Phillies in the NLDS, happening yet again 3-1 in four games.
In fact, if you compare the two postseason, you will find a lot of similarities that mirror each other in many ways.
The offense, which had been one of the most prolific lineups in baseball history, once again went dormant against Philadelphia. Through the first three games on the NLDS, the Braves had hit a combined .187 with 20 runs, seven home runs and 73 strikeouts across 225 at bats. They slugged just .311 in those first three games with a .564 OPS.
The pitching staff could only go as far as Spencer Strider and Max Fried took them. They were clearly overmatched in Game 3 when they sent Bryce Elder to the hill and followed him up with Michael Tonkin as the first man out of the pen. In Games 1 and 4, Strider did more than enough to give the Braves a chance to win, but the offense was just unable to produce in order to help Atlanta get a win for its ace.
Even in their incredible, come-from-behind Game 2 win that had the City of Atlanta and Truist Park buzzing, the Braves were dominated through nearly the first six innings of the game.
You can blame one thing or another, but Atlanta’s second straight NLDS exit was a culmination of reasons that went wrong. From untimely hitting to being unable to avoid the big inning on the mound, to Philadelphia’s first-class home field advantage, to potentially even a comment by a Braves player that wasn’t meant to get out that seemed to dampen the mood in the Braves clubhouse after Game 3.
Atlanta will have to take a long, hard look in the mirror this offseason and evaluate what roster additions, and subtractions, they will need to make in order to get back to where they finished in 2021. A lot of that, of course, really depends on a team’s momentum heading into the postseason — in which Philly reigned all of it this year once again.
The regular season records — from Acuña Jr.’s incomprehensible 40-70 season, Strider’s franchise takeover in strikeouts, to Olson breaking a home run record set by Andrew Jones in 2005 — will all be remembered for years to come.
But this loss will sting. It will stay in the minds of Braves fans, and quite obviously the team itself, for even longer than the loss a season ago did. Braves fans love the records, but at the end of the day, the fan base will tell you it’s about hoisting the Commissioner’s Trophy at the end of the season.
And this year, the Braves fell short of that goal once again.