So...what are y'all's best overall theories as to what's happened (and why) in both the micro and the macro, to our braves since our world series run?

Mrs. Meta

Mrs. Meta

Well-known member
I know this has been discussed, here and there in different threads, but I had honestly been thinking about making this its own discussion for quite some time, at least for my peace of mind🫠🥹😇

Maybe this is the overall answer, but I still want to set aside the randomness of the playoffs in baseball, from this discussion.

Cuz while that is certainly relevant, and I can certainly understand that we caught lightning in a bottle four years ago, especially with the return on the trades, I still, truly do not understand why the better part of the core of our players, at their ages have collectively taken dumps worthy of my pain management with cerebral palsy🙈🙈🙈.

So yeah, was it a League wide adjustment to us hunting fastballs? Some kind of organizational brain rot/hubris?

Inquiring mind(s) want to know!!🫡🙏
 
Nothing. They got better and better until last year when injuries hit. Now, the window is closing thanks to fast declines and a tightening payroll.
 
Here's my overly cynical thoughts because this season has been such a frustrating bust in all aspects:

I think they got their big fat contracts and no longer feel the need to grind it out as 24/7 athletes, like someone would who's still fighting for that big contract. Are there any "gamers" on the team? I thought Verdugo would be that guy, but he sucks too. I don't think they're as bad as Anthony "I don't like baseball it's just a job" Rendon, but I think they've become way too comfortable post-big contracts.

I don't think many of these guys put as much work in during the off-season as they should to analyze their game and/or stay in shape. They'd rather vacation and pump out more kids (wow, I am bitter as hell) now that they have new family generational wealth. Of course, there's Acuna playing in winter leagues, which keeps him in shape and crazy talented. He loves the game, lives and breathes it, and it shows.

There's clearly no leader on the team any longer after Freeman and Swanson left. Just a bunch of rich guys playing as individuals rather than a team, trying to hit that Sportscenter highlight homer rather than just put the ball in play to get the guy in from 3rd.

And the coaching staff needs to be completely overhauled. I think they've lost the team. There's just no spark, no urgency, no life, not like we saw through 2023.

It's not like they're old. It just seems they've all developed terrible batting habits as the years go on, especially pulling the ball. Does anyone regularly hit the ball to the opposite field anymore? I want to say that most of Harris' homers his rookie year were to the opposite field. Just easy power that direction, it was impressive. Now all he does is pull the ball on the ground to the first base side.

I'll buy that last year was injuries, but I really thought the team would bounce back this year with everyone healthy again. Nope. It's beyond frustrating watching them play every night.
 
Hudson2 said:
He's 100% ready to retire and everybody sees it. I really doubt he wanted to come back after last year.
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First thing he said after the playoff loss to SD was that he wished the season started tomorrow. I’m pretty sure he wanted to come back.

Besides, if he didn’t he would’ve just retired.
 
Of course he's gonna say that. He's not gonna say thank God that's over. He just wants the money from that last year on his contract and to hope the team would be better this year so he could go out on top. That ain't happening.
 
Hudson2 said:
Of course he's gonna say that. He's not gonna say thank God that's over. He just wants the money from that last year on his contract and to hope the team would be better this year so he could go out on top. That ain't happening.
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You and others seem to be mistaking the lack of results with a lack of interest. Snitker is the same he’s always been. A terrible tactical manager who does the bare minimum when it comes to standing up for his players. He’s never been a very fiery guy. The bad season is just making it more obvious.
 
He lost his guys that made them work on the small stuff every day and replaced them with nobodies and thought it wouldn’t matter

He got content
 
If you go player by player you can find reasonable explanations for just about everyone. Strider hurt his elbow, which happens to pitchers. See also Smith-Shawver. Iglesias is having a terrible first two months of the season, which has been known to happen to relievers. Albies is approaching 30, plays a position where players have been known to get beaten up and age quickly and has suffered multiple injuries in recent years -- he was always a guy who contributed significant value despite a poor plate approach because of his defense, baserunning and latent talent at the plate allowing him to hit reasonably well in spite of that approach, and when you sap a little bit of that athleticism and talent, it's hard to compensate in the way he used to (see also Javy Baez in Detroit until this year). Riley is recovering from a wrist injury and is still at least within shouting distance of his past productivity. Arcia was never very good and just cratered. Murphy's actually hitting right in line with his career OPS+. Olson's having a perfectly fine season, it just looks like 2023 was probably an outlier. The league figured Harris out, while the extent of his collapse this year is at least partially about a poor BABIP that should positively regress at least a bit.

It's just that all of those things happened at once, with only very limited positive developments popping up to cancel them out (Schwellenbach being awesome, Baldwin looking good, Acuna coming back from his injury as a golden god). In 2023 we basically got the best possible versions of all those guys, and now we're sort of seeing the worst possible versions of them. Can you blame that on Snitker? Sure, in the "buck stops here" sense. And if you're going to struggle as much as Snitker does with the tactical stuff, you need to bring to the table something really valuable in terms of your clubhouse management, and if nothing else it's pretty indisputable that he hasn't been able to halt the slide.
 
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I think Washington was the guy making sure everyone did their work and we're prepared for the games. I think when he left we had guys slack off, hence the multiple guys declining even though they aren't at an age you'd expect it.

You can definitely see a laziness on this team that wasn't there a couple years ago.
 
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striker42 said:
I think Washington was the guy making sure everyone did their work and we're prepared for the games. I think when he left we had guys slack off, hence the multiple guys declining even though they aren't at an age you'd expect it.

You can definitely see a laziness on this team that wasn't there a couple years ago.
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I said the same thing last year. Him and EY were out there dancing with the guys and having fun and they held the guys accountable so Snit didn't have to. There's a reason the team fell off last year and this year. The team just doesn't look like it's having fun anymore. We don't have a guy like Heredia in the dugout having fun and making the guys have fun with him either. Guys like them are valuable.
 
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