Reynaldo Lopez, Atlanta Braves Offense Respond to Even Series with Philadelphia Phillies

[Music] welcome to the Hammer territory podcast my name is Sean Coleman hope wherever you are and wherever you were listening you're having an outstanding out standing Friday evening and it especially helps when the Braves were able to bounce back to get a 7 to2 Victory to split this current series with the Philadelphia Phillies and as always joining me as my podcast partner Steven Tolbert Stephen we've been lucky enough here over the past few weeks to be able to talk more often than not about some good Braves baseball about some wins that have been a lot of fun we're going to get into you know Thursday night's game which is going to be a little bit less than fun but the big thing is is that this Braves team is continuing to show even despite disappointing losses they had the ability to bounce back and they did it once again against arguably the best team in the National League yeah what's up Sean um yeah it's been good to see you know the thing that I'm I'm most encouraged by is that even after a loss um the offense has showed up in games and that was a big indicator early in the season is is you know they would win a few games get some some get some momentum and then they would lose a game and then for the next week they just wouldn't score any runs and they they would just have to scratch and Claw just to be a 500 team and it just seemed like the offense would just go completely missing for a week or two at a time and you know in this stretch of really good play probably their second best stret of the Season behind the first month um even after they lose games and they have lost a couple of games here and there the next day the offense shows right back up and and puts up runs and the same thing happened tonight you know last night was a really last night was a brutal loss in a lot of ways and we're going to talk about both games on this podcast but um a really tough loss last night and then they just came out and you know scored seven runs tonight against a good pitcher that's you know had their number in the past so um yeah really good to see really good bounceback win tonight and uh yeah we're going to get to both games here but it's always good to talk to you buddy same here and let's in before we focus on both games let's talk about one thing that has clearly been awesome to see is that it's great to see the offense of course you know bouncing back doing well making the most of these opportunities especially against quality opponents but but Stephen you know one thing that stood out as a tradeit of this team over their you know last six times they this last six straight years that they won the U the division is the fact that the Braves would always be a good response team if they went a few games where they were lackluster or they had a disappointing loss they would always bounce back as you mentioned basically from uh you know April through July or late April through July of this year that wasn't the case even with the fact that they had you know arguably one of the best pitching staffs in the National League but we're finally starting to see over the past couple of weeks the pitching once again is back near the top of the majors in terms of production after kind of you know um falling off a bit you know in the month after the allstar game but now you're coupling near top of you know the league pitching with good offense and you see what is occurring what now you know I believe 13 and five over our past 18 Gam 12 and five overall past 17 games the Braves are finally once again winning at the level that they did in previous years well when it was the offense that was doing good with good pitching but now the pitching is back to where it was Ronaldo Lopez coming up the iel has been impressive Charlie Morton last night he's put together about a good month of starts this brace pitching staff is back to being like it was in the first half of the season and now with the offense starting to produce we're really seeing that this brav team can be competitive with anyone yeah I mean even with the injury um you know we talked about it last week or the week before I can't remember but even with the injuries this team still has a lot of talent It's actually an impressive amount of talent that they still have considering what they don't have on the field at the moment and you know the pitching staff has has been I think I think it's fair to say the pitching staff has been a surprise in some ways I did not expect this group especially after they lost Strider I did not expect this group to be a top three you know rotation in baseball um but that's how good chrisel has been and that's how good Spencer swach has been and that's how good Ronaldo's been and that's how good Max freed has been and you know Charlie's had an up and down year but he's been you know he's been more good than bad lately I would say he's actually strung together some decent starts here lately so yeah it's been it's you know really since schellenbach came into the that fifth starter spot and and solidified that spot the whole rotation really took off from there and they did have that little bit of a LW right at the beginning of the second half some of that was some crazy you know babit numbers that were just absurd that you know finally calm down but yeah it's good to see it helps a lot you know not having to score a ton of runs to have to win games you know last night we'll get into a little bit about you know some of the the management decisions that went into last night's loss but you know tonight was much more of a a formula for what they do which is the starter go six the bullpen for the most part Nails it down the offense scores you know enough runs to to make it really a comfortable win and that's that's the formula the Braves are going to use and yeah it's really good to see Ronaldo pitch the way he has since he came back from the injury there was a time where we thought we were going to lose him for the year same with Max you know those two injuries could have gone very differently and the season would have gone very differently but those two guys not only being back in the rotation but back to pitching the way they can yeah it's massive I mean it's massive for now if they can keep them healthy it's massive for October and it's always a good feeling when your team no matter who they call upon on to take the mound they can deliver well if you want a source that always delivers when it comes to your calls you should check out mintmobile I love a great deal but I'm not going to run sprints in the Outfield just to save a few bucks it has to be easy no hoops no BS with mint mobile it really is that easy to get wireless for $15 a month with the purchase of a three-month plan purchase and activation is super easy too to get started go to mobile.com territory all plans come with high-speed data and unlimited talk and text delivered on the nation's largest 5G Network you can use your own phone with any mintmobile plan and bring your phone number to get this new customer offer and your new 3-month premium Wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month go to mintmobile.com territory that's mintmobile.com territory cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com territory $45 upfront payment required equivalent to $15 a month new customers on their first 3-month plan only speed slower above 40 gbes on Unlimited Plan additional taxes fees and restrictions apply see mint mobile for details so Stephen I I when it comes to timing when it comes to just being clutch I want to put the spotlight directly on you stepen Tolbert and the reason why that is is because earlier this week you wrote a very well put together in-depth article just simply ask asking Matt Olson to be Matt Olson at the allstar break I directly asked you Stephen what's the biggest key to second half success it's Matt Olson being Matt Olson well Stephen Matt Olson is being Matt Olson this week but I want to expand a little bit on on a point that I ended Tuesday's podcast with you know in us talking both about Matt Olson I get that his streakiness at times can be frustrating but one thing that is undeniable I mentioned that there have been several moments against quality teams where Matt Olson has stood out in his time as a brave will the numbers back it up Matt Olson since his time with the Braves since the start of the 2022 season is a top five hitter in the majors when it comes to producing against teams with winning records he's top five in Ops top five in home runs top five in RB in those games he also the only player who has been better at Citizens Bank Park among active players than Matt Olson is Juan sto my point is is that Matt Olson I get that he has his flaws at times he can be ice cold or he can be red hot but this week once again has shown at any point in time he can unlock an MVP level bat and that typically shows up against quality opponents he's been a huge reason we're 4- one this week and if we can continue to see him heat up he could be an absolute weapon come the home stretch and hopefully October as well I mean it's it's a it's tremendous to see is and you know I've said it all year I've said it probably 10 different times on this podcast but his role even when everyone's healthy his role is critical because of of how much he balances the lineup against right-handed pitching being the kind of the big left-handed bat in the lineup but especially with auna and Riley out you know his role just becomes that much more important and it's just a different looking lineup when he looks like himself when he is destroying pitches you know he had a two more hits tonight he had a double to nine he's actually had an extra base hit in seven straight games uh which is his career high he's been red hot lefties righties it doesn't matter he's been hitting everything he's been hitting extra base hits hitting the ball over the wall he just looks like Matt Olson again and you know when you add in the contributions of the other guys you know rcia Murphy had a home run tonight you laurano mirfield you know he's been a little cold since his five fit game but you know solero Zuna like like I said there is enough Talent especially with the starting rotation the Braves have to be able to score enough runs to win games and it's just so much easier when Matt is Matt like when he is when he is on it is a sight to see and he can get as red hot as anybody he's got like a 140 WRC Plus in the second half which is much much more like matal and that's exactly like the level I expect him to hit at that's his I think true Talent level you know the one 60 he posted last year was crazy and a lot of fun to watch but I don't really expect that again but I do expect him to be like a 130 140 guy um and that's what he's been in the second half and and you see in these last week of games you know two weeks of games exactly how good the bra Braves are when he's awesome and how how vitally important he is to the lineup again being the main left-handed master in the lineup it's just such a critical spot and great you know good for him it's I know it's been a tough year for him I've seen more frustration out of him in the last month you know before this really hot stretch got going he was like breaking bats you know at the plate he was you know Matt's a very cerebral guy he's not a very loud guy he's not an overly emotional guy but even he was getting very very angry and so it's good good for him for busting out of it for you know reminding people how good he is and you know here's to it continuing all the way through September and hopefully October uh because he can do that he can get hot for you know a couple months at a time and carry a lineup and I'm all forward if he wants to do it and and you hit on a point there that I that I want to you know elaborate on a bit more is the fact that you know you know we never really s the Braves clubhous setting has been talked about for years now especially since um Alex and thopas and Brian Snicker arrived has been being one of if one of if not the most attractive one of the best clubhouse settings in baseball and we typically never saw any type of you know negative storyline or you know negativity Panic or anything like that from the Braves Clubhouse over you know over the past several years but this year on multiple occasions you know we we we have seen you know some some some incidents occur players only meeting of course you know there's been you know some miscommunication uh between you know man you know Snicker and the players you know in terms of game situations so on and so forth but the brave starting pitch and we talk about it getting back to like it was in the first half the brave starting pit ping now 19 straight starts in which a brave starter has given up three earned runs or less franchise record the offense is starting to get back the consistency of either hitting the home runs or producing with runners in scoring position overall you have to feel that it's more fun for this Clubhouse they're getting into September yes they're missing a lot of their teammates but they're starting to see the fru they're starting to see results come for all their efforts through all that they've endured so far this season and this Braves team what can make this Braves team most dangerous is them getting back to really enjoying playing baseball because they know that their results are matching their efforts again I think that has been a big reason why the offense has been successful and why the pitching has regained its success yeah it's a bit of a chicken and egg thing right you know do good results come from a positive attitude or do positive attitude come from good results um it is a one of the more crucial parts of being a manager is is maintaining an evil even kill Clubhouse for six months when there are so many ups and downs it's the absolute hardest part of the job it's part it's the part of the job that snitker is the best at you know this podcast is going to have some things that are are said about snit that aren't the nicest things because of some of his Bullpen management which I think is his weakest area but by far and the way his strongest area as far as being a manager is how he handles a clubhouse for six seven months and keeps it very even kill he doesn't allow them to get too high or too low after anything um and you know at times that can be frustrating because it kind of seems like it's the same thing over and over but in the long run it is the best way to operate because you just cannot live and die there's just too many games you cannot live and die with every every single one of these games you'll you'll burn yourself out by June you know you gotta you got to do everything you can to win the game and then as soon as it's over you you gotta kind of erase it and you got to move on to the next one because there's another one tomorrow and another one tomorrow and that's what he's great at like that's snitcher strong suit is setting the tone in that Clubhouse where that's what that's what's expected that yeah if you lose a game come in tomorrow do the same thing get to work and try to win that one and you know all the players talk about that and it is important and it is a big deal and it does help the Braves and one of the reasons the Braes have been successful I do want to make a point of that like that is what snid is very good at and that's what a lot of managers aren't good at and you know uh it it does matter and it does help when you have seasons especially like this one where it has has gone everything hasn't gone right like there's been a lot of there's been a lot of bad there's been a lot of down there's been some brutal brutal losses and you know that even kill attitude goes a long way to keeping your guys you know keeping their heads above water and allowing them to get hot again and then you know ride kind of the highs of the Season as well as surviving the lows and that's where I think Stephen the conversation should go when it comes to you know really discussing Thursday night you know Brian Snicker in just fairness he deserves a lot of credit more often than not especially with you know how much the players love playing for him for him how much he connects with the players that is a great thing that's a big reason why when I say one of the calling cards of the Braves over their you know recent success really since 2018 they're so good at bouncing back from you know bad performances because they just love they they they they don't get rattled typically they love going out and playing and they're confident in playing with each other and for the manager that they play for it's also important to give Brian Snicker credit he has contributed in a big way to the Braves recent success since that loss to Colorado 98 you know a few Sundays ago right after that he got aggressive pushed a lot of the right buttons and got us some big wins on that West Coast road trip that led to the start of what's been the best stretch of the Brave season so the best part of Brian sticker is how he connects with players and he's done well to help put us in a position again to have the best stretch that we've had of the season but once again Stephen you talked about it the one consistent flaw of Brian Snicker is that it feels as if when there's an obvious matchup that he can set up for success for the Braves by going to a certain member or or certain options in his Bullpen a lot of times he decides against that and just sticks with the option that's already on the mound and it's burned him several times it's happened multiple times this season we've seen it happen multiple times in Philadelphia in the playoffs as well as in the regular season over the past few years as much credit as Brian Snicker deserves Thursday night was an example of where I feel it's fair to criticize him he cost us the game I I TR I I feel that that is a fair statement to say and while the credit is deserved and you hope that that shines come September on October he has to be better at playing the matchups because we certainly cannot see that potentially cost us a big game in September and especially in October yeah so just to set the stage in case anyone missed it so on Thursday night the Braves were up 4 nothing uh obviously they had jumped out to a lead you know Matt Olson the guys had given Charlie Morton who started the game a pretty good lead it was 4 nothing Charlie was not sharp really all night long that is context that matters here he he he' walked I think five guys and hit a batter you know he had base runners everywhere all night long it he was already over 100 pitches in the sixth inning which is where this kind of took place so the sixth inning starts he gives up two hits I think he got I think he got an out in there too so I think it was two on with one out and Brandon Marsh was stepping to the plate and snit had Aaron bummer um warming up in the bullpen so Aaron bummer was ready to come in and I was not watching this live and that's why I really wasn't talking about it a lot on Twitter but I did go back and watch the whole game because I knew we were going to talk about it so I went back and watch the whole game later that night and I'm sure people were talking at the time on Twitter about how you know this is they are warming Aaron bummer up to P pitch to Brandon Marsh like that is The Logical conclusion to what's happening here and again Charlie Morton was over 100 pitches he had not looked sharped all night he he was you know struggled with his command tons of walks tons of base runners you know even SN after the games talked about how he was kind of flirting with disaster all night long and so everybody just assumed that bummer was coming in the face Mar well you know snit leaves Morton in again he I think he thrown like 104 pitches at this point leaves him in he immediately gives up a three-run homer hangs a curve ball right in the middle of the plate you know after the game snit said it was a pop up the wind blew out I I don't think that's accurate I went and looked at the stat cast at it he hit the ball like 101 miles an hour he clearly hit it off the barrel um and he hit it like 385 feet or something like that it I don't mean I don't mean to interrupt it would have been a home run in 20 of the 30 Parks yeah I mean like it wasn't like like a pop fly that went down the line of Yankee Stadium that's only a homer in that Park like it was it was a legitimate Homer in my opinion I it you know 380 85 feet 100 miles hour off the bat you know that's a pretty good poke and it was a terrible pitch I mean it was a hanging curveball right in the middle of the plate and obviously you know at that point the all the momentum goes to Philadelphia the Braves and this is another important part of this context is the Braves don't have any of their High leverage relievers available on Thursday so now they have to protect the so now it's 4 to3 and they have to protect a one-run lead with all of their lowest Le leverage relievers and obviously that does not go well Grant Holmes gives up the two-run Homer the next inning the Phillies won 54 so that's the that's how it happened and you know he's just snit has a unyielding trust in his starters even a guy like Charlie Morton and let's be honest Charlie Morton is the bra's fifth starter he is their fifth best starter and he has been pretty much since the day Spencer swach came up he's their fifth starter and when your fifth starter gives you five innings and you know zero runs against a division rival and what what is essentially a playoff game that's what these games kind of feel like you just take that and you run and you you just got to get out and you know I think there was an argument for not even letting him start the sixth inning but he did but once he gives up two hits and now he's got two guys on you got a lefty coming to the plate who hits right-handed pitching way better than he hits left-handed pitching you have a lefty in the bullpen ready to come in it's just a terrible I mean it's just a terrible decision it just was that's just a terrible decision that's one you cannot make especially in a game of that magnitude these games mean way more to the Braves than they do to the Phillies the Phillies are going to be in the playoffs no matter what and they're probably going to win the division but you know the slim hope the Braves have to win the division is going to come down to these games and so these are critical games and to make that decision and to immediately get burned by it I eventually lose the game it's just brutal and I didn't love his reaction postgame if I'm being honest he just kind of you know it happens I you got to get you got to get your starter out of that game and you know a lot of this frustration comes from what happened last year and the playoffs with Bryce Elder and and letting Bry Elder just sit out there and die in game three last year against Bryce Harper um I'm never I'm quite honestly never going to get over that but um it's just it's just a it's a blind spot for for snit he for some reason has more trust in his starters you know tired starters than he does fresh relievers and it's just something that you know it burns him too much and it's something he's got to get better at in my opinion I I think most of the criticism about snit is is unfair and overblown but I think this specific thing is fair I do think this is his biggest weakness as a manager and you know it burned him on Thursday night and and again it's just you know we we've seen it happen in the past we saw it happen last night you know you just you hope it doesn't happen again but it it's these every loss is going to continue to get more costly just as an example the Braves after this victory tonight against Philly the Mets I think are probably going to win their game tonight against the White Sox the Braves right now are likely going to end the night three games ahead of the Mets and they're now five games back of Philly in the inl east snip pulls Morton last night pitches bummer likely gets out of that without giving up any runs and we win the game instead of being at the end of tonight three games up on the Mets in the wild card and five games behind Philly we could instead be four games up in the Mets in the wild cord and within three games of Philly is that at the end of at the end of the series you can make up a lot of ground obviously playing head-to-head with Philadelphia but the overall point that I'm getting at when mentioning these numbers is how impactful one loss can be and snit just cannot allow for this to happen again and Stephen the other thing that stands out is is that with the Braves having a pretty big lead tonight they still use Pierce Johnson and Joe Jimenez Joe Jimenez threw nearly 30 pitches when rosters expand on Sunday we're hopefully going to get de B Hernandez um as an option in the bullpen and maybe in time we'll get AJ Smith shaer and those two probably will take over roles for Luke Jackson and and Jesse Chavez who are known entities to Snicker so you're going to have a bullpen that has Hernandez has AJ Smith Sher Grant Holmes you know Aaron bummer Snicker is going to have to start at some point trusting options that he doesn't have a history of trusting it's going to require him to make the needed adjustment I feel like it can be made I just don't know how confident Snicker is going to be at being successful but he has to make that successful adjustment before the playoffs yeah I mean it is funny like tonight you know the Braves jumped out jumped all over ranger Suarez and you know Orlando R had a couple homers Shawn Murphy had a homer um Matt Olson had a couple more hits ozuno was on base a bunch like they just had a really good offensive night like we talked about earlier and so they they jumped out to like a 7-1 lead in the seventh inning and you know here comes Pierce Johnson and Joe Jimenez which are basically two of the three Braves highest leverage relievers in a in a six-run game um yeah I just I I don't fully understand like I would love to see The Leverage chart that snit has or keeps or uses to decide how he's gonna run out guy like how many runs on the board before this guy gets used or how many you know how big does the lead have to be before this guy gets used you know we saw Luke Jackson in a tie game the other day you know we saw Jesse Chavez for two innings in a close game and then we see Pierce Johnson tonight in a six-run game Joe Jimenez like it is very I like I tweeted it out right before we started recording but I I I haven't quite been able to figure out the logic of how he runs out his relievers I remember AJ Mentor pitched in like a nine-run game earlier this year like it is very strange and you know I I'm assuming snit just said you know we have to win this game after losing last night so we're just going to make sure we get it but like you said Joe men threw like 30 31 pitches tonight he's probably out tomorrow um and you know you used him in a six-run game so it is very strange um I don't I have yet to be able to figure out exactly the logic he uses night in and night out but you know it just kind of is what it is with SN we this is who he is this is who he's been for years now this has always been his blind spot um you know he's an unbelievable like Clubhouse manager and I think the the bullpen management part is his weakest part quite honestly and I think he's a little slow on the you know he's he doesn't have the urgency to get his starter out the way other teams do you know even tonight like the Phillies got Rangers horz out there quick they got Sanchez you know last night I mean they don't leave their stutters in to get beat up once they're tired and you know I I you watch other teams and it's the same thing like they're hyper aggressive and getting their starter out of the game and getting you know fresh relievers in the game and I you you can't do that all year of course but we're in you know this is late August we're in September it's like this is the time and you know it's just not what's does and for better for worse you know there are plenty of managers who are worse than snit overall but this is just something that you know Braves fans have kind of learned just to deal with and again tonight you know your best relievers in a six-run game okay I mean that's just you know that's that's snit and you know we'll see what happens we'll see you know like you said The rosters do expand they'll get another reliever which will help days Bell is a really good reliever I'm assuming that's who it's going to be um we'll see if Jesse Chavez and Luke Jackson hold on to their spots I wouldn't be surprised to see maybe somebody else come up and take one of those spots as well uh but we'll see they did get the big win tonight that's what matters you know one- one tie now you can go in the next two games and cut it all the way down to to three games by the end of the series so you still have a lot in front of you to to play for and a lot you can accomplish but yeah the bullpen decisions the last couple nights are are are tough to follow in terms of the logic if you know if you're trying to connect both of them at the same time it's it's a little tricky Stephen I won't delve too much into this but I do think that it's at least worth you know just fun to discuss you know we got two more games with the Phillies you know we beat them head-to-head this year I believe that we're going to even if the Phillies do win the next two games I believe that we've won the season series but just in a potential playoff matchup with our pitching with our offense being where it is we could potentially have Austin Riley and Aussie alz back at that time how how confident are you in a potential playoff series with the Braves versus the Phillies right now you know coming off the last two years I mean obviously the Phillies have our number but just a potential playoff scenario the big difference between then versus now is the overall depth I feel of the arms that we could rely upon to throw multiple Innings and throw multiple Innings effectively with the fact that our offense may not be as reliable but just where are you in terms of a confidence level that if we were to face the Phillies in the playoffs now we could be competitive and potentially win that series well Sean I'm going to be honest with you buy I'm an Atlanta sports fan so my confidence level when it comes to any sort of playoff is always pretty damn low um like that's just how I grew up and you know I have watched this team in this franchise my entire life be unbelievable in the in the regular season and then laying egg somewh in the postseason so like if you if the Braves and Phillies started a season a series tomorrow in the playoffs I'd feel good because Chris Sale Max freed Ronaldo Lopez are all pitching well the the offense is going well right now mant Olson's hot the bullpen a glacius has been one of the best relievers of baseball like I would feel good if you just you know laid out the logic of it on paper but and somewhere in my gut is the Atlanta sports fan and me and and I would be sick to my stomach um that's just the you know that's just the nature of of of rooting for this city uh for so many years but I do think the Braves feel like they have you know having Chris Sail and Max free having your best two hit your pitchers be lefties in a lineup where you know schwarber and Harper are the guys you really have to make sure you control I think that does matter and having Chris S in general and having somebody that you know can go and shut down a lineup you know if they can get to if they can get to October with those two guys healthy sailing in Max and you know throwing Ronaldo throwing a glaus like you do feel really good about that like you don't have to score eight runs to win those games you you should be a you know you should be able to score three or four runs and win those games so I have confidence against anybody if the Braves can get there with this group healthy and still clicking you know mat Olson doesn't fall off again or or you know somebody else get hurt God forbid you know I do think this team can beat anybody in a short series because of their pitching they just got to get to October they got to make the tournament and they got to get their healthy and you know it's it's it's October Anything Can Happen the the Diamondbacks won 84 games last year and they made the World Series like anything can happen in October obviously so of course the Braves could win it all U but you know just on paper just with the the starting pitching you know the back end of the bullpen the offense you know doing better and better daily essentially yeah I I I feel like the Braves could could beat anybody if if they got this current group you know to the playoffs well of course getting there is what matters and and you know something that definitely would help is that over the next two games if we were to just split this series right if we just simply were to split the next two games split this series I think that that would be another big boost for this Braves team another five and two week versus what could potentially be you know their toughest week of matchups moving forward for the rest of the season but don't want to hone in too in on that because we've got two really fun pitching matchups Max Reed versus Zach wheeler Spencer swellen boach versus Aon Nola probably the two most familiar arms the the the arms the Braves are most familiar with in Wheeler and Nola over the past decade freed obviously getting back into his usual form swelling boach being one of the best Revelations on the mound in baseball this year that's what's so great about these matchups that we talk about Stephen when it comes to the Phillies and the Braves is that with how good their pitching ma uh staffs have been this year you have great matchups and that's how we're going to finish this series Stephen how are we going to be able to get a split to end this series maybe even be able to win the series and get two wins well only you know only if they had some experience against Aon NOA um you know only if they had seen him a few times maybe they would have a sh I mean they've seen arinola I've watched arinola Pitch against the Braves 177,000 times in my life so you know there's no secrets the Braves have hit him well in the past they've also been shut down by him in the past so you know I I would call that game a tossup with Nola and then with wheeler you know same thing like the Braves have have scored some runs off him but he's also Al dominated them so you know if you told me the Braves split those two 1-1 you know that was probably the always the most likely outcome when the series started against you know two really good teams a four game series kind of the median expected outcome is probably a two two split and of course that just kind of leaves everything the same in terms of the division and you know if I had to guess right now that's probably what I would say that the Braves probably take one of these next two games and drop the other one but we'll see I mean you know you know Max and and and schellenbach have been two of the the best pitchers on the team those two guys can certainly go out and shut down any lineup um but you know swen back's a rookie Max has you know struggled with the Phillies at times in the past so you know I could also see it going the other way I mean the Braves could lose these two games I mean it's two games of baseball anything can happen so of course they could win they've seen Aron NOA a bunch they've got two pitchers on the mound who who have had really good seasons and and it would not surprise me at all to see them go both throw really good uh games you know the bullpen is is always going to be a question just because it's been used so much who's available you know I I I doubt Joe Jimenez is available tomorrow which is a notable Factor um so we'll see how it goes but yeah it's not you know if they don't win it's not gonna be because of lack of familiarity with with Nolan wheeler they've seen him plenty and you know they've got two good pitches on the mount to go up against them and we'll see what happens and that's the great thing about it is that you know the fact is is that the past two weeks again Scott Coleman said it others have said it as well it's been the best stretch of baseball so far for the Braves and it's given them this opportunity it's given them this opportunity to where hey the most likely scenario is are they going to win the division no is a good scenario going to be that they're going to make the playoffs yes but right now we're at least able to enjoy what feels like playoff baseball as Stephen has said multiple times in this podcast the Braves have plenty to play for and when they have plenty to play for especially against quality opposition at least in the regular season they show that they can deliver time and time again I would expect for a split to happen and hey if we can win the next two games that again could be a huge boost as we wind up uh August and head into the final month of the season for stepen tolber my name is Sean Coleman you can find him bore outliers on Twitter myself at Stats saac the foul territory podcast Network you can find it out fou territory across all forms of social media as well as at Hammer territory across all forms of social media until next time for Steven Tolbert my name is Sean Coleman go Braves we'll talk to you again soon here on the hammer territory podcast