While the Atlanta Braves lit up the scoreboard Wednesday night with a franchise-record 29 runs in a rout of the Miami Marlins, it's hard to balance that with the woes that led to Atlanta's first series loss to Miami in four years.
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The Braves begin a 10-game road trip Thursday, their final stretch away from home this year, facing the Nationals, Orioles & Mets. While Atlanta has handled New York, the Nationals escaped Truist Park with a four-game split last week. Baltimore is the only team on the Braves' 2020 slate they've yet to play this year.
Atlanta has to negotiate this stretch with possibly only one start from Max Fried, coming as late as the September 18th matchup in Baltimore. While Braves GM Alex Anthopoulous remained optimistic that Cole Hamels could join the team at some time during this road trip, it's difficult to imagine how much he can contribute because of his workload limits.
Caleb Johnson of the Batter Up! Podcast doesn't seem as optimistic given what the rotation looks like the next time through. "Erlin, Tomlin, Anderson, Wright & Millone is what you have going through Washington and starting in Baltimore," Johnson says. "Who knows, a week from now the ship could be sinking, or it could be like the first half of the season where you close your eyes and everything works out alright."
Will Palaszczuk believes that if Hamels can join the team on this road trip, with reports saying he could start for the Braves as soon as Sunday, "He can only help this club, even if it's only three innings at a time, it's a better three innings than you're getting out of most of the guys in that rotation."
Joe Patrick believes the Braves still are the team to beat in the NL East despite a slim two-game lead over Philadelphia, saying, "They've gone this far, I don't think a lot of the games are going to be pretty, but it's a product of this unique season."
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