The Atlanta Braves have needed more from the heart of their lineup, but they finally delivered last night in a critical spot against the New York Mets. Dansby Swanson, Austin Riley, and Matt Olson have all experienced a less-than-optimal month of September, but all three delivered home runs on Friday night in the Braves' 5-2 win.
From the Diamond with Grant McAuley and Cory McCartney discussed the trio of guys in the two, three, and four spot on Saturday afternoon and how they're hoping to see more of this come the playoffs.
"As key as Ronald Acuna is to the top of that group, if they can't get these three guys going - who all homered last night - then they will be severely limited over the course of the next month," McCartney said to McAuley on Saturday afternoon.
All three of these guys have been struggling a bit as of late. Matt Olson went hitless for 22 consecutive at bats at one point in September and July's player of the month, Austin Riley, hasn't been the same guy either. In those 26 games, he slashed .206/.310/.412 and .722 OPS. With one swing of the bat, his fortunes may have changed for the better.
"He came in with one extra base hit on a four-seamer in the month of September coming into last night," McCartney said. "He had 20 of those against that pitch last month alone."
Dansby Swanson has struggled late in the season, too, but his 100th career home run may also be a sign of good things to come.
"I know he (Dansby Swanson) is in the midst of a career year," McCartney said on about the Braves' shortstop. "But it's been a downward trajectory for him. Think back to June when he was hitting 66-percent above the league average, as opposed to 121-percent in July to now an 87 WRC+ in August and his worst month of the season at 80 (WRC+) going into last night against the Mets."
To this point, it felt like the big hits were missing for the Braves in these spots against the Mets. That's likely a symptom of trying to hit against a future hall of fame pitcher, but that wasn't the case last night.
Now they have to go out and do it again against that other future hall of famer. The Braves need the heart of the order to replicate what it did last night.
"You can't expect the bottom of the order to carry the weight for this team to the level that it has at time this year. You need (the heart of the lineup) to be hot. You need them going, they're your run producers and the guys that come through in the clutch."