The Atlanta Braves got a much-needed performance from Charlie Morton who turned in one of his best performances of the season to help lead them to a 5-0 win over the Miami Marlins. Morton, Luke Jackson and Jesse Chavez combined on a two hit shutout. Freddie Freeman gave Atlanta a first inning lead with his 18th home run of the season. Austin Riley, Dansby Swanson and Ozzie Albies all finished with two hits each.
With the win, Atlanta improves to 43-44 and jumps into second place in the NL East standings passing the Phillies. The Braves will have another opportunity to get back to the .500 mark Saturday. They last time they were .500 for the season was back on June 8 when they were 29-29. Atlanta hasn’t yet spent a day above .500 this season.
More Braves News
- The Atlanta Braves landed four players in Baseball Prospectus’ midseason Top 50 prospect list including outfielder Michael Harris who was unranked in the preseason Top 101.
- MLB Pipeline spotlights who will be leading the draft for all 30 teams. This will be Dana Brown’s third draft since taking over Atlanta’s amateur scouting department in 2019.
A teammate of Craig Biggio, Mo Vaughn, John Valentin and Kevin Morton at Seton Hall, the 54-year-old Brown played three years in the Minors with the Phillies and coached two more with the organization before beginning his scouting career. After eight years with the Pirates as both an area scout and East Coast crosschecker, he served as the Expos/Nationals scouting director for eight years, overseeing Drafts that produced more than 40 big leaguers, headlined by Stephen Strasburg in 2009 and Ryan Zimmerman in 2005. He spent nine seasons as a special assistant to the GM in Toronto before taking over the amateur scouting department in Atlanta in January 2019.
- Our excellent group of prospect writers got together to discuss the 2021 MLB Draft in a loaded roundtable discussion.
- With draft day rapidly approaching, outlets are releasing their close to final projections. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel projects UC Santa Barbara right-hander Michael McGreevy to the Braves at pick No. 24 and St. Mary’s lefty Ky Bush in the second round.
- Over at The Athletic, Keith Law projects Nebraska two-way star Spencer Schwellenbach to the Braves in his third mock draft offering.
- Baseball America again projects East Carolina right-hander Gavin Williams to the Braves in their Mock Draft 6.0.
- MLB.com’s Will Leitch lists the best Draft pick that is playing for each team right now. Freddie Freeman gets the nod for the Braves who was a second round pick in the 2007 MLB Draft.
The reigning MVP has been a part of the organization since being drafted back when John Smoltz was still starting 32 games for them.
- How quick can fortunes change? Two weeks ago the Chicago Cubs were leading the NL Central and had just thrown a no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers. After an 11-game losing streak, they are now making plans to sell at the trade deadline.
- MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand runs down on potential Deadline upgrade for all 30 teams. He thinks bullpen upgrades could play a big part for the Braves if they can hang in the NL East race.
Atlanta’s relievers have a combined 4.64 ERA this season, ranking 11th in the NL. Closer Will Smith has done a solid job in the ninth (17-for-19 in save opportunities), but the rest of the bullpen has struggled to get the ball to him at times, combining for 11 blown saves. A number of quality relievers will be available this month, one or two of whom could wind up in Atlanta if the Braves can inch closer to the Mets in the NL East.
MLB News
- The Padres placed left-handers Blake Snell and Drew Pomeranz on the 10-day injured list Friday. Snell is dealing with gastroenteritis while Pomeranz has inflammation in his left forearm.
- The Washington Nationals are reportedly close to an agreement with utility man Derek Dietrich. No word yet on whether it will be a minor-league or major league contract. Dietrich opted out of his minor league deal with the Yankees after hitting .215/.413/.393 with five homers for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.