The Braves’ resilience and dumbfounded magic when hit with injuries
For whatever reason, the Braves seem to always play their best baseball when they appear down and out while meeting big-time adversity at the same time.
Back in 2021, they were hit hard when they lost their top player in Acuña and also perhaps one of their top pitchers at the time, Michael Soroka. With a middling record of around .500, the Braves made some key trade deadline additions that included Jorge Soler. As a result, they somehow went on a magical run that ended up getting them into the playoffs. From there on out, they remained resilient and cruised through the playoffs, ultimately capturing the World Series that year to the surprise of many.
Could it be déjà vu all over again in 2024? This season, the Braves have lost Acuña once again for the season, along with their top starter Strider. To make matters even worse, more players have suffered injuries this time around, with stars Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley also missing significant amounts of time as well. Yet, the Braves have somehow managed to stay afloat in the playoff race to date. And who did they also get again at the trade deadline? That’s right, Jorge Soler is back once again.
So do the Phillies really want to meet a team that’s looking to repeat history once again this very season? Probably not, so it’s probably for the better if they can actually avoid the Braves this time around.
They should hope instead that another team can eliminate the Braves early in the Wild Card Series, or perhaps even keep them out of the postseason altogether by eliminating them from contention during the regular season. That way, the Phillies can make their own history and not become one that would be part of Braves history.