Spencer Schwellenbach Dominates Phillies

did the series win against the Phillies say more about the Phillies than it actually did the Braves so brought to you by Plaines coffee.com promo code Braves get your 10% off he's Lindsey Crosby I'm Ben Taylor Lindsay if you look at the bad stuff that has happened to Atlanta over the last six months I was gonna say week but you might as well say six months the season yeah yeah the season and especially when you know when you start talking about the the same opening lineup that started the first series of the year as we have not seen it since then does this say more about the Phillies losing to Atlanta with a third as you said in Discord of Atlanta's lineup being DFA players that just beat the number one team in the NL East I think this says a lot about Phil about Philly struggles right now but also about Atlanta's really exceptional pitching plan by the time this goes up I'll have a piece dropping on bra.com about how Atlanta just really went away from throwing fast balls at Philly's hitters and Philly just could not get anything done and using spener SW box game three as an example the only three hits he gave up came off of a four-seam fast ball and two Cutters which his cutter is more of for velocity than a lot of other guys are but Atlanta at one point retired I think I didn't have the I think it's like 17 or 18 straight hitters with off speeder breaking pitches like Atlanta just absolutely mowed down Philly by not throwing fast balls and I think when you look at this game A two or this series a 21 Series win the winning team only scored three runs every single day it every game was 32 3-1 3 something like that I think it kind of shows that Atlanta right now while you are in like you are missing guys because of injury and you're not going to get some of these back you'll get Riley back eventually in the postseason you'll get um Aussie back sometime in September but you this is how you have to win right your pitching staff has to be able to go out lock lock down opposing lineups shut dudes down and like this is this is the blueprint and if you continue doing this if your rotation can be this dominant and your Bullpen can be this dominant you can still make a deep postseason run postseason runs are built on great pitching performances um and then you just have to hope that a couple of your hitters can get hot at the right time like Marcel ozuna's been all year like raone laurano is right now uh and you just hope you have enough offense to get it to make it happen but this Philly series was a blueprint for how Atlanta's going to have to approach the rest of the regular season and October if they get there see and the thing is is I know that we would like to look at the lack of offensive performance for Atlanta in this Philly series only scoring two G you know two runs three runs that kind of thing at the time however this was a pretty darn good staff we're talking about you know a pitcher on the final game of the series that's coming off a complete game 99 pitch game the game before as well as we all know what the rest of them are capable of doing wither as well and so everybody likes to point the fact there was a lack of offense and I thought yeah but if the pitching stays like it is the offense will come around get some of these teams that have lesser pitching than what the Phillies do so you expect to see a little bit more power maybe out of ozuno maybe out of Olsen Zuna still had a hit in the final game of the series but it seemed like he was over for the entire time because we only saw the long ball in the first game of the series right and I I will point out that you've played two series now in two weeks with very very good pitching matchups the giant series we talked about that on the show last week about how you faced last year's sa young winner last year's sa young runner up uh the top Lefty pitching Prospect in baseball entering the year a former sa young winning Robie Ray and you went three out of four in that series and then this one you face two topof the rotation pitchers in Nolan wheeler and Sanchez who has been very good and you went two in one in this series and so even if the offense doesn't come around like what we are expecting it to based off of what they did last year and I'll point out that Atlanta still has some of the most home runs in baseball over the last like since they allar break the last month it's just there's so so many of them are with the bases empty but uh but even if the offense doesn't come around Atlanta has shown that they're able to win these games against good baseball teams and good opposing pitching staff so not that you obviously you would love the offense to be there because it gives you a greater margin for error but even if they don't you can still see how you have a valid proof of concept because you did it against the Giants you did it against the Phillies and theoretically that should be replicable in the postseason against the Phillies again if you face them yeah um and again postseasons the different animal different environment different Vibes all that stuff but the point is you've done it it's not just that you did this against Colorado or the white socks you did it against Philly so be confident that even if the offense doesn't come around the way you think it should or the way that we would prefer it to be this is still a winning formula just one with a smaller margin for error and I said this uh the Pod that I did after game one I did it late that night and the reason I did it is because I wanted to let fans know uh number one I think that World Series right now does not need to be part of the vocabulary and a part of the equation however if this team with this lineup Lindsay makes it to the playoffs I don't think Atlanta fans understand because we've all been too spoiled with all those banners and all those numbers that are hanging out up in the Outfield how important of a win that is to be able to make postseason play at all with what's on the field you said it best and I I'll repeat this again and you said it to all of us a third of the lineup has been DFA by other teams we're playing with scrubs right now we're playing with guys that can't make teams and they're performing if not offensively which they did urela still actually put put a run across the plate but defensively has been almost all staric in my opinion defensively yeah we we've I think it was we saw four double plays in game two we saw a double play last night a lot of them were Ella to marfield to Olsen two-thirds of those guys again DFA by their existing teams and in the case of G orella it's not like he got DFA by a good team it was the Detroit Tigers who said you're not good enough to play for us um yeah but I mean like the the defense showing up that obviously ties in with the pitching right I mean that that those are connected things but like I'll I'll point out that a good defense can do the same goal of what your pitching staff is is needing to do and keep runs off the board Trey Turner had been doubled up four times in 2024 entering this series Atlanta got him twice Atlanta doubled him up on Wednesday and again on Thursday GI orella traditionally has not been the level of Defender that Austin Riley was this season but so far he's looked pretty decent at the hot corner he did look better than Weston Wilson looked for the Phillies um there on Thursday and so like that's the best offensive player that Atlanta had was was Wilson over won Wilson yeah and so like it was good enough for you to win right and when you by the time you get into the postseason you're going to have aie Al back which means you'll be able if you need to you'll be able to move between uh Gio orella and Whit marfield at third base he has played some Third Base um you will you'll have a roster Crunch at that point when Aussie comes back you'll have to decide who loses a job and it kind of feels as of right now Austin uh Adam Duval may be the guy out uh we'll see although he did get a home run last night and started for the first time in like 10 days oh my goodness great went three for three with the Homer against the Lefty but I mean the defense is holding up the defense has been good all season defense is holding up these replacement players in marfield and Nella are doing well Ramone laurano has um is holding his own in the Outfield and hitting really well right now uh last 15 days he's batting 325 with a 1.36 Ops which is absurd so this is still a in my mind a postseason capable team and this is still a team that can make a run we had a podcast in this feed back from uh January where I talked to John Smoltz and he said you need three things to win in the postseason you need three hot starters you need three hot relievers you need three hot hitters and you can name quite a few hitters right now that you could see getting hot in a postseason series look at 2021 how it worked out uh your your your MVPs of each postseason series was a different guy where a different guy got hot Solair got hot in the World Series Rosario got hot in the NLCS jock Peterson got hot in the nlds like different guy or wild card whichever one it was guys got hot in every series and you can see how let's assume Marcel Ozuna is hitting the entire postseason you could see how Ramone laurano could have a big series you see how Michael Harris could have a big series you could you could see Matt Olen coming around and having a big series or Shawn Murphy or Travis darno like there's name can point to and say jge Solair could get hot so I feel like despite how it feels to a lot of fans this is still a team that can not only make the postseason but can still make a run in the postseason all you have to do is get there it's a whole different season and I think last year was the best example of that with a five seed facing a six seed in the World Series it's all brought to you by ples coffee go to Plains coffee.com promo code Braves get your 10% off when you head there coffees teas they don't roast those beans of course te's don't have beans that's tea leaves but they don't roast the beans or roast the leaves until you make your order and ship it to your front door Plaines coffee.com promo code Braves you're 10% off when I look at this lineup from the Phillies as far and let's just go through the final game of the series and and talk about even the series in general how lackluster schwarber Turner Harper were schwarber okay I have a stat for that in the series that Trio of schwarber Harper and Turner went two for 33 with 14 strikeouts wow FR Turner did not have a hit schwarber had one Harper had one Harper's one hit cutter which is a which is a version of a fastball so back to our point there well and that's the thing is is can I was going to use that performance out of those three that are supposed to be the top three dogs also casanas by the way 0 for four wore the wore the Halo as far as uh final game of the series was concerned so throw his name in that in that vout as well so basically their top four hitters really uneffective the entire week or entire Series against the Braves but I guess my question to you is Lindsay can the pitching stay this way I mean I know s can because he's proven that he is not going anywhere freed seems to be coming around because uh it's just one of those things where he was kind of up and down kind of wonder if he's a little hesitant at times but he seems to be kind of letting loose a little bit schwellenbach for my in my opinion gets better every game it's like confidence comes in in placement comes in learns what he can and can't throw instead of blowing people off the plate as you said he kind of cut down on the fast balls realized The Scouting Report said hey they can't hit off speed so let's throw them off speed can this continue with Lopez coming back Sail Free swell and Bach in order to get the Braves where they need to be because my trust right now is not in the bats I mean I would love to say that Olsen can get hot but he hasn't proven it Ozuna has been probably the most solid out of everybody and then the other guys as I said we're playing a third of the lineup's DFA guys so I don't I don't know yeah um I would say what I I still would take this rotation in a postseason Series against Philly yeah uh Schell Block's now done it twice so it's sustainable obviously they're going to adjust the next time they face him but him both him and Max freed are what I like to jokingly call kitchen sink guys they have a legit five or six pitch Arsenal they can pick and shoot what they throw they can sequence the hell out of you uh and then Lopez is fastball slider curveball he add a curveball in times he's the one that you that's the one the one of the starts that they lost I think was the Lopez no wait Lopez was G one anyway yeah yeah yeah so like you've got a little bit of issues there but even then it was good enough for Atlanta to win and Chris Sail has only faced Philly one time this year his Braes debut was in game three the season and the way the rotation lines up as of now for um for who pitches against uh Washington this week and then Minnesota on the road trip next week Chris S won't face Philly again in the regular season so when you get to the postseason it assuming you face them in the postseason you probably have to get through a Wild Card round they haven't seen sale you've got two guys in Fred and schw and B who can adjust what they do freed can decide to throw a bunch of sinkers and and Sliders and Cutters and get ground balls he can go for punch outs with the curveball whatever it is uh and schen block throws five or six pitches and like you said gets better it seems every single outing and you know I feel confident that you still have enough tricks up your sleeve if you have to face Philly for a fifth time this season and being in the postseason after four season uh four Series in the regular season and what's cool you win one more game you've won the season series against Philly which I just I think that's in the midst of one of their greatest regular seasons in team history that they can't seem to beat the Braves in the series is just a little bit if I was a Philly fan embarrassing honestly hey if you're a Philly fan and and you're watching let us know in the comments if you're embarrassed about the fact that you can't beat this Atlanta Braves roster oh you know what they're going to do they're going to go back to the postseason of last year and make sure they put up those statistics before it's all said done I mean I'm I'm I'm really excited that they have a beat the Braves in the nlds ring from last year because that's the only kind of ring they have exactly I I'm looking forward to it you mentioned s he's going to uh he's going to lead things off and he'll take the hill for uh the Braves against the Nationals to open up that series you mentioned the Twins and then of course back to the Phillies in Philly this is one of those things where you and I have talked about this I don't like that Major League Baseball has done this whenever you face basically the same team in a week span uh just because I don't I honestly don't think it's fair to either team everybody goes ah you're just not saying that because then they see you're pitching and then they're going to see them again next time around yeah the way the rotations work out I don't think it's fair for either one and so I mean you're seeing the same team inside of basically eight days and I don't know that that is uh fair for the fans fair for the players and fair for baseball but it is what it is but um looking for a decent outing I think that the Braves need to capitalize off this and at least take two or three from Washington in and truest yeah I like the matchups uh Lefty McKenzie Gore versus Chris S tonight 720 You've Got Jake Irving versus char Morton on Saturday and then youngster DJ HS ver versus Ronaldo Lopez on Sunday that's a Roku game so 12:05 p.m. Eastern on Roku that's a Roku game on Sunday um it's I think you need to win two out of three here and that just and that's partially because of one the the quality of Washington after moving some guys out they traded lame Thomas at the deadline things like that but also just where you are in the season you have to hold on to that third wild card spot and you really can't afford to drop a series between now and the end of the season so you need to win this one you need to win the twins series two out of three there and then your rotation for Philly will be Morton Lopez freed and schwellenbach if nobody if there's no shenanigans on moving guys around and so if you do that um as of now it would kind of line up you'd face Suarez wheeler Nola and Sanchez so you'd get these three starters from this series again next week and like you said we're at Le dumb that we have to do that but uh I'm I'm gonna go with 21 this weekend also it's alumni weekend tons of fun stuff happening at the Ballpark we have an article came out on Braves today on Friday morning all about um alumni weekend activities including a really cool Greg Maddox documentary that premieres Sunday night on MLB Network you can watch it early on Sunday afternoon after that game in the battery and we'll have an article dropping on Saturday we got an advanced copy of it to look at for Braves today kind of talking about some of the cool stuff in the dock that's very cool stuff you were telling me before we on before I let you go you got another article that's going to be dropping it's got all kinds of crazy nerdy numbers in there which I love I don't know how many people love it but I love it for sure I love looking at that stuff because I'm not going to do that research that's what you're there for you do it and you look it up and so I'm looking forward to seeing that as you said that uh I don't know how many words you're going to put in there and how how much you're going to do but uh still some cool stuff coming out on bra today yeah kind of explaining this whole um you know anti- fastball strategy that they had over against Philly this week and a lot of the individual focus on sequences and usage was from that final game with schwellenbach but it's it it's kind of valid for the whole series just really interesting to see how Philly struggled how Atlanta attacked them and and how it extended all the way even through the bullpen usage he's lindsy Crosby I'm Ben Taylor it's all been brought to you by none other than PLS coffee go to planes coffee.com get your 10% off by entering the promo code Braves looking for two out of three against Washington you heard it from both of us Lindsay as always I greatly appreciate your time sir thanks buddy