Ozuna hits 479-ft. HR, but Braves drop finale

ATLANTA -- Though it included what might end up being the worst day of the season, the Braves’ latest homestand, which concluded with a 9-3 loss to the Cubs at Truist Park on Thursday night, was one that created reason to feel better about both the offense and the pitching staff.

“I think it was a really good homestand,” Braves third baseman Austin Riley said. “I felt like a lot of things clicked for some guys. We just hope to keep it rolling on the road.”

• Box score

Having to alter their rotation plans after Saturday’s postponement led to a doubleheader on Sunday, the Braves brought Bryse Wilson back on short rest for this series finale to essentially serve as an opener. Wilson balked in a run during a two-run first and allowed the Cubs to tally two more runs in the third.

Wilson’s struggles during his three-inning effort created a deficit the Braves couldn’t overcome. Marcell Ozuna’s monstrous home run in the sixth, which traveled a Statcast-projected 479 feet, accounted for the last of the two runs that Cubs starter Adbert Alzolay allowed over six innings.

With the loss, the Braves went 4-3 on the homestand, which included them tallying only one hit while being shut out over the entirety of Sunday’s seven-inning doubleheader against the D-backs. They followed that miserable day by winning the first three games of this four-game set against the Cubs.

Given how rough portions of the opening month have seemed, it's worth noting that Atlanta is now 12-13 and tied with Philadelphia for first place in the National League East.

Here are a few key thoughts from this homestand.

Riley to the cleanup spot
With a pair of singles on Thursday, Riley strengthened suggestions to move him to the cleanup spot. It might have seemed ridiculous, given his past inconsistencies and the fact he had a .451 OPS as recently as April 15. But he has since raised his OPS to .868 and started looking like the power threat who could ensure pitchers continue to respect Ozuna.

Riley has hit .483 (14-for-29) with three homers and a 1.467 OPS over his past 10 games.

“I feel like I’m seeing the ball well and putting some good swings together,” Riley said. “But this has only been nine or 10 days. So I’ve got to continue to work and continue to put in the time.”

Coming to life
Given Ozuna has produced only a .582 OPS through 25 games, he is going to significantly influence how much respect opposing pitchers give him. This has been a rough first month for the slugger, who led the National League with 18 homers last year. But he entered this homestand with only one extra-base hit and exited it with three more. So, that is progress.

Pitchers tend to respect guys who can mash like Ozuna does. His sixth-inning homer off Alzolay had an exit velocity of 114.3 mph. The 479-foot blast was the third-longest homer hit in MLB this season, trailing only the 485-foot shot White Sox rookie Yermín Mercedes hit on April 8 and the 481-foot home run Ronald Acuña Jr. hit on Tuesday.

“He had some really good at-bats these last couple days,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Ozuna. “There was just a lot of hard contact.”

Changing roles?
Ian Anderson tossed another gem, Huascar Ynoa mimicked Shohei Ohtani and Max Fried moved another step closer to coming off the injured list. Those were this week’s most encouraging developments for a rotation that likely won’t get Mike Soroka back until the second half of June.

Charlie Morton should be fine, but there’s still reason to critique the $11 million invested in Drew Smyly. Still, until Soroka returns, it makes sense to allow Smyly to at least eat innings. This creates the option to test Wilson as a maximum-effort, one-inning reliever.

With Kyle Wright, the Braves have a capable sixth starter, and they could also provide emergency starts to Kyle Muller or Tucker Davidson, who are both on the 40-man roster.

Moving Wilson to the bullpen could provide the additional right-handed presence that Atlanta’s lefty-heavy relief corps needs. Nate Jones has proven he is not the answer, and the Braves need to be careful with Chris Martin when he returns from the injured list within the next week or two.

A decision regarding Wilson doesn’t have to be made immediately. Given he won’t be available to pitch the next few days, he could be optioned to the alternate training site to create a roster spot for Sean Newcomb, who is expected to be activated from the injured list on Friday.