So, here we are. One team is going to be having a champagne shower and booking a flight to Los Angeles for the National League Divisional Series and one team will have to face the cold, dark (and in this case, uncertain) offseason having to deal with the extra sting of having been eliminated by a divisional rival.
I think we’re all hoping that it’ll be the Atlanta Braves getting on the plane instead of the Philadelphia Phillies and if it’s going to happen, they’re going to need Ray Kerr (and Johnny Wholestaff, really) to come up huge and keep Philadelphia’s lineup quiet while the offense gets to work against Aaron Nola (and, well, Philadelphia’s whole pitching staff as well).
Obviously, the spotlight is on Kerr who will be making his fourth start and first-ever Postseason appearance. It’s been a long and winding road to get here for Kerr and now the Braves will be leaning on him to make it happen for them on the mound in a winner-take-all situation.
Walt Weiss was asked in the pregame press conference about how Kerr is approaching making this big start and agin, his history is definitely a factor in making sure that the moment doesn’t become too big for him. “Ray is a pretty easygoing guy. He’s got a great story, too, if you haven’t seen it,” said Weiss. “He’s overcome a lot of things in his life. He’s very grateful to be here and I’m sure really excited about the start.”
As far as the strategy goes, Weiss made it pretty clear what he had in mind when he was asked about that as well. “[The Phillies have] obviously a pretty tough left-handed top of the order,” explained Weiss. “Ray has thrown the ball well against these guys, and it’s been recent. I think two different outings within a week, three, three-plus each time, scoreless, did a nice job. Keeps a right-handed starter away from that top of the order for a minute. Ray has thrown the ball really well, he’s done a nice job for us.”
He was also asked about when he came up with the idea and it seemed like one of those ideas that came as a matter of circumstance. “I would say the last week of the regular season, just starting to look at some scenarios,” stated Weiss. “Look, we’ve lost all these starters. We lost three more starters toward the end of the year in Elder and Martin Pérez and Reynaldo López. We started to think a little bit creatively because we knew we might run into something like this. So it was good. It was good that Ray got that start under his belt.”
Meanwhile, the other big move of the day is that Dominic Smith has been given DH duties for this one, despite only receiving liited at-bats and playing time over the course of this season. Obviously his at-bat to end Game 2 didn’t exactly engender a ton of confidence amongst the Braves faithful but Weiss is feeling confident that Smith can come through when called upon.
Weiss was asked about why he thinks Smith can come through for the Braves tonight he explained that it was mostly due to the matchup. “Dom has got a lot of history against Nola. Not saying he’s dominated Nola or anything, but he’s had his fair share of success against him, a lot of at-bats,” said Weiss. A lot of the underlying numbers for Nola favor left-handers against him. Dom has been a big part of our success.“
“Look, he hasn’t had a lot of at-bats recently because when [Sean Murphy] came back, Murph was doing the lion’s share of the catching, which made Drake [Baldwin] the DH, and Dom was the odd man out,” stated Weiss as he also explained why Dominic Smith hadn’t received many ABs in recent times.
“…in the latter part of the season, I was using that DH spot to get guys off their feet, Ronald [Acuña Jr.] in particular. Several times he was the DH, [Ozzie] Albies was the DH. So Dom was the odd man out,” continued Weiss. “But [Dominic] is a professional hitter. He was instrumental in our early season success. He was one of the guys carrying us the first couple months of the season, and his at-bats got limited. Obviously the production was limited.”
Weiss continued to talk about the decision to start Smith and went back to his early-season results as an example (while also admitting that the Game 2 AB was rough). “But even when I’ve used him as a pinch-hitter, it’s almost always a quality at-bat. Tough at-bat yesterday, tough circumstances against a guy throwing 100, but I still felt good about Dom in the box yesterday. He just typically gives you a good — it’s usually a deep count by the time the at-bat is over. He can draw a walk. He uses the whole field. And we just needed a single right there. I thought Dom was our best option to get a single right there. Like I said, he’s a professional hitter.”
For what it’s worth, Dominic Smith has 11 hits in 41 plate appearances and has hit .268/.286/.488 with six doubles and a homer against Nola over the course of his career, so maybe there’s something there. Also, I’d imagine that Smith would be out of there once Nola is out of there (unless Dom just delivers a Big Dominic Smith Moment at the best possible moment) so this doesn’t feel like something we’re going to see for the full nine (or so) innings. Either way, it’ll be fascinating to see how this goes for Smith and the Braves.
Either way, the Braves are still feeling loose and confident heading into Game 3. When Mike Yastrzemski was asked about what the vibe of the clubhouse was like ahead of this big elimination game, Yaz stated that there was still a fun atmopshere in the clubhouse despite so much being at stake.
“It feels like any other day right now. I don’t know if you like to hear that or not, but that’s just the reality of things. It’s another game,” stated Yaz. “There are repercussions at the end of the game, but for us to play our best, it has to be just another game. Because if we start thinking about things and overanalyzing how a pitcher is going to throw, what a hitter is going to be looking for, that’s how you get locked up in those moments. Trusting our preparation, trusting all the work we’ve put in the whole season is the way we’re going to be able to play loose. Guys like Ozzie and Ronny and [Mauricio Dubón] that are laughing and having a good time and bringing out the best in everyone, that’s what they’re going to be doing today because that’s how we operate.”
Mauricio Dubón also seemed pretty loose and confident, though he’s always come off that way in my experiences with him and just observing him around the ballpark. When he was asked about the game moving to 8 p.m. ET, he stated that he was excited about being able to play in front of a full house in primetime. “The vibes are good. It’s the only game that’s being played today. Everybody is going to be watching. Phillies and Braves fans hate each other. So it’s going to be really fun,” said Dubón.
When I asked him about being able to deliver in those big, two-out, high-leverage sitautions, he explained to me that it was all about focus and stepping up in the moment. Just getting the job done, man. If you don’t do it, somebody else will. They’re going to bring somebody else to do it,“ explained Dubón. ”I think the sense of urgency, just try to get the job done. You don’t need a three-run homer to deliver. One at a time is going to be really important right there. If you get it, great. If not, just try to bring one in.“
So while they’re loose, the squad appears to be focused as well. They’re professionals and they know what’s on the line. Ultimately, everybody knows what’s at stake and they know that they’ve got to either produce or go home. It’s that simple. Hopefully once we reach the end of the night, we’ll be here discussing a joyous night at Truist Park instead of a bummer. We’ll see what happens!
