The Atlanta Braves are limping back home after embarking on what turned out to be one of the worst road trips in franchise history. They’re heading into this game 0-7 and will likely be desperate to avoid making it an 0-8 start as they get set for their home opener against the Miami Marlins.
One of the few bright spots during that nightmare of a road trip was Spencer Schwellenbach’s performance against the Padres on Saturday evening. His six shutout innings were enough to make him our Player of the Week here at Battery Power and he certainly deserved better than what his lineup was giving him during that start. Either way, it was certainly encouraging to see Schwellenbach essentially pick up where he left off last season, which is great because it’s likely that the Braves are going to need him to go as long as he can if the offense pulls another disappearing act.
During his rookie season, Schwellenbach only ran into the Marlins once and it took place here in Cobb County. Schwellenbach went seven innings where he struck out 10 Marlins batters while walking not a single one of them. However, this was one of the rare occasions where he gave up multiple homers in one game last season, as Jonah Bride and Jake Burger both went deep off of him.
The good news is that Jake Burger is currently playing for the Rangers and Jonah Bride currently has a wRC+ of three (3) through 28 plate appearances over seven games. The Marlins themselves have currently gotten off to a mediocre start at the plate but we’re ones to talk since the Braves would love to be hitting at a “mediocre” rate at this particular moment in time.
If the Braves are going to figure out a way to go from being “terrible” to simply being “mediocre,” they’ll have to make it happen agains Max Meyer. The former hot prospect is coming into this game off the heels of a start where he made it into the sixth inning and struck out seven batters while only walking one batter and giving up five hits — including a solo homer from Andrew McCutchen.
Like Schwellenbach, Meyer has plenty of pitches to work with (five, according to Baseball Savant) but he leans on his slider more than any other pitch and he relies on getting ground balls for most of his outs. Other than that, if the Braves can find a way to hit him hard then there’s a very good chance that they’ll find success against Meyer.
The Braves experienced a peak and a valley against Max Meyer in 2024. They saw him for the first time last April, which is when Meyer came here and threw six strong innings where he struck out seven, didn’t walk anybody and only gave up one run on six hits. That was a frustrating contest where Chris Sale got dinged for five runs over seven innings and the Marlins cruised to a 5-1 victory.
Needless to say, we don’t want any of that to happen again. Instead, I think we’d all prefer something more like what happened when the Braves saw Meyer in August. That was when the Braves got him for four runs, including three dingers — one from Matt Olson, Austin Riley and Orlando Arcia, each. The Braves rode that power to a 4-2 victory and that would certainly be the preferred result if it could happen again.
Either way, I don’t think any of us around here particularly cares how the Braves get it done, we just need to see them get it done. While the margin for error is higher now than in the past thanks to the Postseason expansion, the Braves still have plenty of work to do before they can get this season back on track. There’s no time better than the present to start to turn things around, so here’s hoping that the Braves can finally figure it out and get in the “W” column for a change. This fanbase desperately needs something to cheer for and tonight would be a great time to see this team have some fun for once.
Also, it’s 404 Day. Please Braves, don’t lose on 404 Day. Thank you.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Friday, April 4, 7:15 p.m. EDT
Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA
TV: FanDuel Sports South/Southeast, Gray TV
Streaming: MLB.tv, FanDuel Sports App
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan
