Braves Today

Takeaways: Atlanta drops another game to the abysmal Athletics

Another great start from Bryce Elder was wasted in a listless performance out west.

Will Moon

It was a low-scoring night in Oakland, with the Braves bats being uncharacteristically inert for the second straight evening. Here are some takeaways.

Pillar to Post

Kevin Pillar continues to hit the ball really well. Playing almost exclusively against left-handers, Pillar is homering about 6% of the time, which is very good. He kept up that pace tonight with this golf shot off the foul pole in the third inning.

With left-field production being an issue aside from him, Pillar making the most of his opportunities at the plate will continue to be important. Teams win or lose divisions sometimes because of the contributions (or lack thereof) from guys like this.

Elder Statesman

Bryce Elder keeps getting the job done. He pitched 7.1 innings tonight and only allowed one run, lowering his now league-leading ERA to 1.93. He's still not an overpowering arm, with a modest five strikeouts tonight, but his ability to induce weak contact continues to bamboozle just about every lineup he faces.

With the injuries to Max Fried and Kyle Wright, Elder and 2020 draft classmate Spencer Strider have largely carried the rotation thus far. Fried, at least, should return at some point in the coming weeks, but it's hard to overstate the importance of Bryce Elder to the 2023 Braves.

Ugly Loss

There's no pun or anything for this section - this loss is bad. Last night's loss was also bad. Oakland is beyond terrible. They've been one of the worst teams in MLB history through two months, and these two wins aside, there's little reason to believe they won't continue to be historically awful for the remainder of the season. Remember, this club is basically the movie Major League without the part where the team unexpectedly goes on a playoff run. The owners want to get the franchise out of Oakland and have little regard for fielding a competitive team or selling any appreciable amount of tickets.

That said, for a division-leading club to go out to the Oakland Mausoleum Coliseum and lose back-to-back games is pretty disheartening. For the second straight night, the offense was just dead, with Pillar's solo homer accounting for the only run. He also doubled, but was left stranded and there was very little else to report on the offensive side tonight. (Except possibly an injury scare for Ronald Acuña Jr. during a ninth-inning at bat. He finished the game, but maybe keep an eye out for any further info there.)

AJ Minter got two outs in the eighth (one via a pickoff and the other via a strikeout), but closer Raisel Iglesias had a horrible ninth inning, walking the bases loaded and then taking the loss when Austin Riley bobbled a ground ball and couldn't get the out at the plate, much less a possible inning-ending double play. The bullpen and team defense have hurt the Braves, particularly of late, and they struck again at a bad time against a really bad team. For the second straight week, I just can't find a whole lot of good to say about the team's performance.

On Deck

The Braves will try to avoid a particularly embarrassing sweep tomorrow afternoon, with rookie Jared Shuster (1-2, 5.33 ERA, 4.63 FIP) taking the ball. Oakland, who is now 12-45 on the season, counters with right-hander James Kaprielian, whose stats are absolutely gruesome (0-5, 8.45 ERA, 5.86 FIP).

First pitch in Wednesday's action in Oakland is set for 3:37 PM ET. The game broadcast, with Voice of the Braves Brandon Gaudin, is available inside Braves Country on Bally Sports South and is available on MLB.TV outside of the broadcast area. The radio call, with Ben Ingram, is available locally on 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan or outside the Atlanta market on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network or MLB.com.

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Will Moon
WILL MOON

Former Auburn radio personality, writes about pop culture and other topics at octopus-man.com and covers the Braves for bravestoday.com

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