Braves Report: Bummers and bright spots

Felt odd that we didn’t get to enjoy Braves baseball on Memorial Day, didn’t it?

Should be mandatory stuff.

Nevertheless … on to Philly!

THE SERIES AHEAD

“I’ve said many, many, many unkind things about Philadelphia, and I meant every one.” — said the late filmmaker, David Lynch.

📺 How to watch: All three games start at 6:45 p.m. on FanDuel Sports. (Our out-of-market friends can watch on TBS tonight.)

⚾ The pitching matchups: Some pretty darn good mound meetups in store for us.

📝 The scouting report: The Phillies are 34-19, lead the National League East and had won nine in a row before dropping their series finale with the Athletics on Sunday.

The Braves took two of three during a series with the Phils in early April.

‘HANGING RIGHT IN THERE’

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

Ronald Acuña Jr. announced his return with gusto, hitting two homers, driving in three and making a couple of ridiculous defensive plays.

The Braves still dropped their weekend series with the Padres — and find themselves two games below .500 yet again.

“Everybody wants to be .500 and everything, but there’s so much baseball left,” manager Brian Snitker said. “We’re not gonna win the division in May. We’re not gonna win it in June. We’re not gonna win it in July. I’m encouraged that we haven’t played our best baseball yet and we’re hanging right in there.”

Indeed, the Braves are playing mostly middling baseball.

But they’re not totally buried: 8½ games back of the division-leading Phillies with … 110 left to go.

More from the glass half-full side of things, courtesy of beat writer Justin Toscano:

I won’t give you the whole, “They’re too good to play like this forever” thing … but Atlanta’s due for a run.

Right?

“Yeah, I’ve always had a lot of confidence in this team, and I feel like that’s the last thing I’m gonna lose, is confidence in the guys in this clubhouse,” Acuña said Saturday.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT …

🫡 Orlando Arcia is reportedly set to sign with the Colorado Rockies after the Braves cut him over the weekend, ending his tenure of four-plus seasons in Atlanta.

The shortstop thanked the organization and fans on his Instagram, saying Atlanta will “always have a special place in my heart.” Teammates will miss his presence.

🤔 Raisel Iglesias is the Braves’ closer, for better or worse. He gave up another go-ahead home run Friday, but Snitker defended him.

“They haven’t been terrible outings,” the manager said. “It’s just been one pitch. We’re not looking to get away from that because the stuff’s there.”

REMEMBER THIS?

Thirty-two years ago Monday, a Reds pitcher drilled the Braves’ Deion Sanders in the back.

When Atlanta pitcher Marvin Freeman didn’t retaliate, third baseman Terry Pendleton just … walked off the field in the middle of the inning.

“It’s very unusual that Terry would do anything like this,” manager Bobby Cox said afterward. “He’s such a first-class person. He’s a great kid. But everybody snaps once in a while. That was his time.”

Wild stuff.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

Been a while since I’ve gotten to use fresh photos of Acuña in major league action. So why not make it two today?

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Until next time.