Braves' starting pitching falters for abrupt end to October run

SAN DIEGO -- This marked the third straight year the Braves’ World Series hopes were tarnished by at least one late-season injury to a starting pitcher. But this season was different. The rotation had been the only strength this injury-depleted team had left.

What might have happened had top NL Cy Young Award candidate Chris Sale not recently joined Ronald Acuña Jr., Spencer Strider and Austin Riley on the list of Atlanta stars unavailable for the postseason? That can be debated throughout an offseason that began immediately after the Braves suffered a 5-4 loss to the Padres in Game 2 of the National League Wild Card Series on Wednesday night at Petco Park.

“I'm so proud of those guys. I just told them that,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It's amazing what they did, to put ourselves in contention. We had a chance here. We got in the tournament.”

Instead of shining in what might have been his final start for the Braves, Max Fried added to his recent postseason woes. The free-agent-to-be took a Fernando Tatis Jr. liner off his backside during the first inning and escaped a bases-loaded threat a few minutes later. But the Padres tallied five infield hits during the first two innings and constructed a five-run second with the help of consecutive extra-base hits by Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill.

Fried has produced a 6.08 ERA in his past eight postseason starts. This stretch includes the six scoreless innings he provided in the clinching Game 6 of the 2021 World Series. That start will forever be celebrated. This latest one simply created a deficit the Braves couldn’t overcome, despite Padres starter Joe Musgrove exiting in the fourth with right elbow tightness.

“It's deflating and frustrating knowing that we played a good enough game to ultimately win, but I put us in too big of a hole, and lost it,” Fried said. “It’s definitely a tough one to swallow.”

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Michael Harris II highlighted a three-hit night with a two-run homer that brought Atlanta within one run in the eighth. But for the third straight year, the Braves were eliminated in their first postseason series.

Some could say the Braves overachieved by simply making the playoffs in a season during which six of the 10 members of their Opening Day lineup (starting pitcher included) missed at least two months.

“I feel like this was a pretty, pretty positive season, considering how rough it was, having the guys we had go down and never having the same lineup since day one,” Harris said. “Still, winning 89 games is pretty huge for this team.”

It was ironic that Sale, who had been limited to 151 innings over the four previous years, was one of the team’s top stars to stay healthy. But the Braves’ World Series hopes began to crumble on Sept. 19, when he began to deal with back discomfort during a start in Cincinnati. The issue was downplayed, but hope he might pitch again faded over the past week.

Last week’s inclement weather influenced by Hurricane Helene combined with the inability to sweep the Royals forced the Braves to pitch Spencer Schwellenbach in Monday’s doubleheader against the Mets. Suddenly, Atlanta entered this best-of-three series having to give the Game 1 start to 21-year-old prospect AJ Smith-Shawver, who made just one MLB appearance during the regular season.

This was not what was expected from a team that had three All-Star starting pitchers -- Sale, Fried and Reynaldo López -- despite Strider’s early injury. But this extended a trend. Strider strained his oblique and Fried lost 10 pounds because of a virus near the end of the 2022 season. Last year, Fried developed a blister and Charlie Morton strained a finger ligament.

These ailments influenced consecutive losses to the Phillies in the NL Division Series.

“That's why it's so hard to win a World Series,” Snitker said. “It's hard to get to the playoffs. It's hard to win a division. A lot of things have got to go right.”

With the Braves being shut out in Game 1, it can be argued it didn’t matter who started. But Tatis’ first-inning homer off Smith-Shawver energized a hungry San Diego fanbase and delivered yet another gut punch to a Braves team that endured more than its share this year.

Still, frustration was mixed with anticipation as the players bid adieu to each other and an often cruel 2024 season.

“February can’t come soon enough,” Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud said.