Atlanta joins the ranks of the October stunned
Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 of Atlanta reacts after flying out in the seventh inning against the Philadelphia Phillies during Game Four of the Division Series at Citizens Bank Park on October 12, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Credit: Getty Images/Rich Schultz
PHILADELPHIA — During the final 24 hours of their season, which again expired at Citizens Bank Park, the six-time NL East champs went from anger to bewilderment.
The Atlanta clubhouse was steaming after the Game 3 loss to the Phillies because of the reporting of Orlando Arcia’s mocking of Bryce Harper, who responded by smacking two of the Phillies’ six homers in a 10-2 rout.
After Thursday night's 3-1 loss to the Phillies, however, the finality of Atlanta's elimination after a 104-win regular season left the players mostly numb.
Of this October’s final four, three are wild-card teams. The five clubs with MLB’s best records were sent home, a group that also included the Orioles (101 wins), Dodgers (100), Rays (99) and Brewers (92).
Those looking for a common thread have pointed to the extended layoffs for each league’s top two seeds, who must wait for the wild-card winners to emerge from the previous round. Atlanta had the division wrapped up by the All-Star break, so one could argue that Brian Snitker & Co. simply couldn’t flick the switch back on when the stakes were raised in October.
There probably is some validity to that for a sport like baseball, as teams run on adrenaline for the daily grind of a six-month season. But Atlanta’s shutdown was so extreme, the power outage so complete, that the no-show would seem to defy such a simple explanation.
After leading the planet in nearly every offensive category -- including 307 homers, 947 runs and an .845 OPS -- Atlanta’s historically lethal lineup produced a total of eight runs in four NLDS games, batting .186 with four extra-base hits and three homers, two by Austin Riley.
“It’s brutal,” said Matt Olson, who had four singles and zero RBIs after crushing 54 homers during the regular season. “They outplayed us last year, they outplayed us this year. We couldn’t get anything going offensively.”
When asked if the five-day layoff could have been a factor, Olson shrugged.
“We don’t know anything different now,” he said of the playoff format, which was changed for last season. “We had to do it. It’s not an excuse. We scrimmaged throughout it. We got at-bats. Sure it’s off our own guys, but it’s something that you don’t have a choice in. But it’s no excuse to put that on the series.”
Atlanta even had its ace on the mound for Game 4, but Spencer Strider couldn’t contain the Phillies either. He was 3-0 with a 1.42 ERA in three previous starts at Citizens Bank Park, but Nick Castellanos took him deep twice -- becoming the first player with back-to-back multi-homer postseason games - and Trea Turner added another as the Phillies chased Strider after 5 2/3 innings.
“You look at the playoff format and everything, I mean, you don’t need to be a great team all year,” Strider said. “You need to get to the playoffs and then it’s a different game. We did a lot of good things in the regular season, but ultimately we’ve got to find a way to make the next step in the postseason. That’s something we’re going to have to work on.”
Based on the recent playoff trends, it seems best to go full throttle to Game 162, or at least the final week. Cruise control doesn’t cut it. The Astros didn’t beat out the Rangers for the AL West title until the season’s last day. The Diamondbacks also squeezed in at the wire. The Phillies, the NL’s top-seeded wild-card team, didn’t punch their ticket until Sept. 26. Considering that the best-of-three first round began less than 48 hours after the regular-season finale, there was no break in the momentum for these teams, no opportunity to get iced by too much down time.
Still, Atlanta boasted eight All-Stars this year, including the presumptive MVP in Ronald Acuna Jr., who hit .143 (2-for-14) in the Division Series. The NL East champs finished 14 games ahead of the Phillies. Many had them penciled in for an NLCS showdown with the Dodgers, who suffered a shocking sweep by the Diamondbacks. It was a head-scratching October for two of MLB’s most successful franchises, setting up a long winter of reflection on how things fell apart.
“We thought we did everything possible during the delay, recreated things the best we could,” Snitker said. “And we can do everything right and all that and you start a series, and you know what, your offense doesn't get traction. I mean it could happen anytime. It happens in series over the course of the summer.
“I don't know that we could have done anything any better or been more thorough in what we did with our time off to get us ready to play, other than the fact that when you're doing that, the adrenaline and playing for something that's not there. You know what, that's a big deal.”
No doubt. But Snitker & Co. shouldn’t be holding their breath expecting another adjustment to the playoff format. MLB just implemented the best-of-three wild- card round last year, and commissioner Rob Manfred doesn’t sound as if he’s in a rush to tinker with it right away.
“"It's only Year 2,” Manfred told reporters before Thursday’s Game 4 of the Division Series. “I’m sort of the view you need to give something a chance to work out. I know some of the higher-seeded teams didn't win. I think if you think about where some of those teams were, there are other explanations than a five-day layoff. But I think we'll reevaluate in the offseason like we always do and think about if we have the format right.”
Regardless, it’s too late to help Atlanta, or the Dodgers, or any of those other disappointing division winners now.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
