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Braves takeaways: Chris Sale won't start twice in final week, Matt Olson's resurgence

MIAMI — After winning a thrilling 5-4 series finale on Sunday against a Marlins team that was bold (if not opportunistic) despite losing just one game in 100, the Atlanta Braves could finally turn their attention to the most important series of the season: three games against the New York Mets, beginning Tuesday in Atlanta.

After winning the final two games of the three-game series in Miami, the Braves now find themselves two games behind the Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks in the battle for the final NL wild-card spot after the Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 on Sunday night.

“I was talking to Tommy Glavine the other day,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said of the Hall of Fame pitcher and part-time Braves commentator, “and he said, 'At least you control your own destiny.' He's right. I mean, we have to win every day.”

Snitker exaggerated, but not much.

There are only six games left in the regular season. The Braves will host the Kansas City Royals in the last series after the game against New York. The Mets will end their season with a series in Milwaukee.

Because the Braves and Mets have split their last ten games, the winner of the series that begins Tuesday will have the tiebreaker if the Braves and Mets finish the season with the same score.

Arizona, which has been second in the wild card standings for weeks, could also play a role in the wild card situation against the Braves and Mets, as the Diamondbacks lost to Milwaukee on Sunday and are now just two games ahead of the Braves.

But the Braves, who have a day off on Monday, probably won't spend much time working through the potential wild-card scenario with the Diamondbacks, at least not until Atlanta finishes its crucial series against the Mets.

One thing seems certain: the Braves will have no trouble getting excited about the Mets.

“To me, it feels like we're already in the postseason,” Braves closer Raisel Iglesias said through an interpreter after pitching scoreless eighth and ninth innings on 28 pitches for his 32nd save on Sunday. “We showed up in Miami knowing how important these games are, so there's already a great playoff atmosphere here.”

Iglesias has made six two-inning appearances since July 8, including five such appearances in his last 17 appearances in less than six weeks. He has not allowed an earned run in any of his two-inning appearances.

The Braves' relievers thwarted the Marlins' best scoring opportunities on Sunday, as Dylan Lee struck out three consecutive batters (the first two by strikeouts) after entering the game with runners on second and third base and no outs in the fifth inning. Daysbel Hernández managed a strikeout and a lineout to leave three players standing in the seventh inning, when the Marlins failed to score after loading the bases with no outs against Aaron Bummer, who struck out the next batter before handing the ball to Hernández.

Mets rotation set, Sale gets extra rest

After much speculation about whether the Braves would let Chris Sale start twice in the final week due to his regular rest period — on Tuesday and Sunday — Snitker announced that Sale, the projected NL Cy Young Award winner, would instead start on Wednesday with an extra day of rest, as he and other Braves regulars have done for most of the season.

The Braves will start sensational rookie Spencer Schwellenbach on Tuesday, followed by Sale, with Max Fried getting the final game of the series. That would allow Schwellenbach to start the final game of the season against the Royals on Sunday, although Snitker insisted they hadn't thought that far ahead. If the Braves make the postseason, Sale could start a wild-card opener in the series.

“I mean, the only thing we're focused on right now is Tuesday,” Snitker said.

The plan would presumably rule Sale out on Sunday regardless of the situation, since he would only have a short rest (three days), something no Braves starter has done all season. Additionally, the reason to have him pitch on Wednesday instead of Tuesday is because he has an extra day since his last start on Thursday in Cincinnati, when Sale's fastball velocity was 2.1 mph below his season average.

“Just like before, we gave him an extra day,” Snitker said of the decision to have Sale pitch Wednesday instead of Tuesday. “They're all (Atlanta's top three starters) going to pitch. We've been thinking all morning about what the best option is and talking to the guys and they're all really happy with it.”

When asked if Sale could start with the usual rest, Snitker said, “Originally we thought about it. But Schwellenbach throws the ball really well and they'll both throw. So, yeah, that's exactly what we thought of.”

Olson's resurgence brings him to 30-100

Matt Olson was the only major league player to have at least 30 home runs and 100 RBIs in each of the last three seasons, and thanks to an impressive second-half bounce-back after one of the worst first halves of his career, he's on the verge of doing so for the fourth year in a row.

Olson went 2-for-3 with two singles, a walk and his 98th RBI on Sunday after going 2-for-4 with his 29th home run and three RBI in Saturday's 6-2 win over the Marlins. He has reached base more than once in each of the last nine games.

In the 53 games before Sunday, he hit 55 percent of his home runs and 55 percent of his RBIs for the season. Olson has upped the ante in recent weeks, posting a .422 batting average with five doubles, four home runs, 19 RBIs, 12 walks and just seven strikeouts in 13 games.

“I took a step back from the video and the analysis of it and tried to focus more on rhythm and feel,” Olson said of the resurgence. “I just put a few balls in a better position than I should have.”

Since July 27, he has a major-leading 54 RBIs and through Sunday was fourth in the league with 16 home runs during that span. This after posting just a .226 batting average with 13 home runs, 44 RBIs and a .694 OPS in 102 games through July 26.

“He's been one of the best power hitters in the game for a long time,” said Braves pitcher Max Fried, “and you know it's only a matter of time before he comes through, given how hard he works and how much he puts in every day. I'm glad he's swinging the bat well and seeing the ball.”

“If we want to get where we want to go, he will play a big part in it.”

Harris influences both sides of the game

Michael Harris II's recent performance reminded us how much the Braves missed the center fielder and leadoff player when he spent two months on the injured list with a severe hamstring strain.

His fifth-inning triple tied the game Sunday after Harris had three hits for the third straight game on Saturday and also made two spectacular catches in that win. He went 2 for 5 on Sunday.

It was the first streak of three consecutive games with at least three hits by a Brave since Ronald Acuña Jr. also did so from the first batter in August 2023. Harris has hit .314 with seven home runs and a .923 OPS in 19 games in September, ranking third in NL home runs for the month, one behind Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Schwarber.

In 36 games since returning from the IL in mid-August, Harris had 10 home runs, 25 RBIs and an OPS of .804 before Sunday.

Still, it's the glove that gets the most praise in the Braves' locker room, and his teammates immediately smiled when asked about Harris' two defensive brilliances Saturday – a run, leap and over-the-shoulder catch at the warning track in right-center field, and a diving catch before crashing into an away scoreboard in the left-center field wall.

“You get to the point where you can put together a pretty long film of highlights of his defensive work,” Snitker said. “Just the timing, the feel.”

Fried, who earned his 10th win on Saturday, said of Harris' catches: “When the ball goes up, you know you have a really good chance to catch it. The ball I gave away in the first round, he played really well. He hit it right over his head and was able to position himself to catch it.”

“If he hadn't done that, it could have been really tricky. And then of course his play towards the end of the left halfway line – you try to imagine how special those plays are, but we're spoiled because he makes them look routine.”

(Photo by Chris Sale: Justin Casterline / Getty Images)

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