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Braves News: DoubleHeader to Decide Atlanta’s Season, Spencer Schwellenbach starts Game 1, more
It is a story that we have seen play out far too many times this season.
The Braves had the ability to potentially make things simple and easy on Sunday when it comes to making the postseason. However, due to a 4-2 loss to the Royals, Atlanta will now have to play a doubleheader in Atlanta vs. the Mets with their season on the line on Monday. While Charlie Morton made a few costly mistakes, the offense once again failed several times to capitalize on run-scoring opportunities.
As a result, it is win or go home for the Braves on Monday. Fortunately, they only have to win one of the two games to make the playoffs. And with the same being the case for the Mets, there is a good chance who ever wins the first game will not give much effort in the second contest.
It will be Spencer Schwellenbach in the first game for the Braves while Tylor Megill will take the mound for the Mets. On paper, that matchup favors the Braves, and Atlanta will have extra incentive to win Game 1 as that means NL pitching Triple Crown and likely Cy Young winner Chris Sale can then be saved for Game 1 of the NL Wild Card round. If Atlanta loses the first game on Monday, Sale gets the ball in Game 2.
The set up is simple for the Braves:
Win one or more games tomorrow, they will play the Padres in San Diego on Tuesday in the first round of the NL Wild Card round.
If they lose both games, the season is over.
Atlanta has bounced back many times this season, and they now have no choice but to do it once again.
Braves News
Five Braves are among the finalists for the ALL-MLB awards for 2024.
David O’brien breaks down all the chaos and why the Braves and Mets will need to play both games on Monday.
Justin Toscano points out the Braves still very much control their own destiny.
MLB.com breaks down all the scenarios for tomorrow’s doubleheader.
Mark Bowman discusses Morton’s performance and Monday’s significance for the Braves.
MLB News
The Mets defeating the Brewers on the road and the Diamondbacks beating the Padres set up a dramatic end to the season for the National League on Monday.
Tarik Skubal wins the AL pitching Triple Crown for in what likely will be a Cy Young season for himself, much like Chris Sale in the National League.
Many of the times and settings of the early playoff rounds are already known as we await the final two teams for the National League.
Rocco Baldelli will return as the Twins manager in 2025.
The Cardinals are likely to move on from veteran slugger Paul Goldschmidt this offseason. They also will likely listen to offers for veteran pitcher Sonny Gray.
Justin Turner plans to continue playing in 2025.
On a sad day overall for Braves Country, due to the passing of the legendary Bobby Cox, Spencer Strider gave Atlanta fans something to be happy and hopeful about with a stellar outing, shutting down the Dodgers potent offense for 6.0 innings with 8 strikeouts and 15 whiffs. He looked as good as he has in a long time. His fastball averaged 96.4 MPH, with 17 inches of induced vertical break and he had four pitches working nicely together. Even if Strider doesn’t quite return to his Jacob deGrom levels of dominance, having him as a true #1 or #2 quality starter would make a huge difference for this Braves team to pair with Chris Sale. Bryce Elder has been great this season, but shouldn’t be the second best starter in the rotation of a World Series contender. If Strider can keep something like Saturday night’s version of himself moving forward, that’s a huge development for him and this team.
The highly anticipated NBA Draft is finally going to take place tomorrow and the Atlanta Hawks are 1 of 14 teams hoping the ping pong balls bounce their way.
This is going to be the final payoff for what was arguably the best move that any team made last offseason. Atlanta traded down from the No. 13 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and acquired the unprotected 2026 first-round pick from the New Orleans Pelicans, the most favorable of the Pelicans’ and Bucks’ selections. The Pelicans finished 7th in the lottery odds, and Milwaukee is 10th. Based on the odds, the Hawks have a 40% chance of jumping into the top four.
The last time the Hawks were in the lottery, they jumped from 10th to 1st and selected Zaccharie Risacher. While that was a huge stroke of luck, it has not always worked out that way for the Hawks.
Hawks lottery history
The Hawks have been in the NBA Lottery 16 times since 1985 and in that time span, the Hawks have:
- Moved up five times (2024-moved from 10th to 1st, 2018-moved from 4th to 3rd, 2007- moved from 4th to 3rd, 2001- moved from 5th to 3rd, and 1985- moved from 7th to 5th)
- Moved down five times (2020- moved from 4th to 6th, 2019- moved from 5th to 8th, 2006- moved from 4th to 5th, 2005- moved from 1st to 2nd, and 2000- moved from 5th to 6th)
- Stayed where they were projected to six times
Their biggest move up by far came in 2024 when the moved up to No. 1 and were able to select Risacher, which has not quite panned out.
There is an element of what if to each of these scenarios, especially the years the Hawks moved down. In 2020, they moved down in a draft that contained Anthony Edwards, who is from the state of Georgia and one of the elite players that the league has right now. Atlanta ended up selecting Onyeka Okongwu, but there is a big what if about being able to pair Edwards with Trae Young.
In 2019, the Hawks were 5th in the highly anticipated 2019 lottery that featured Zion Williamson, but they fell three spots. While WIlliamson has not had quite the career most had hoped, he is still an All-NBA caliber player and would have paired nicely with Young as a tandem.
There have been some hits and misses during the 16 times that the Hawks have been in the lottery, but there have seemingly been more missed opportunities, even when they jump up in the standings. They are hoping that they get another stroke of luck tomorrow in what could be a franchise altering day for the Hawks.
Final projected odds for the Hawks:
No. 1- 9.8% chance
No. 2- 9.9% chance
No. 3- 10.1% chance
No. 4- 10.30% chance
No. 7- 19.75% chance
No. 8- 30.18% chance
No. 9- 9.19% chance
No. 10- 0.67% chance
No. 11-
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