Over the past couple of weeks, the Phillies have established a pattern: They’ll play well in one game of a three-game series and make a ton of mistakes in the others. They would do well to reverse that pattern – or even better, avoid the mistake-prone games altogether – because the first place Braves are coming to town this weekend.
Atlanta Braves
Record: 12-7, First place in National League East
The last time they met
The Braves visited Citizens Bank Park for a four-game set at the end of August 2025 and lost three of the four to put
a serious dent in their playoff hopes. The opener was the Kyle Schwarber four home run game in which the Phillies squeaked out a 19-4 win.
What’s the deal with the Braves?
Their many injuries should have put a dent in the Braves’ chances this year, and ultimately, they might! But thus far, the Braves’ have been able to overcome their lengthy list of wounded players.
Their starting pitching has been excellent. All five of the pitchers currently in their rotation have ERAs under 4.00, led by Bryce Elder at 0.77 through four starts. Elder isn’t scheduled to start this series, but the guys who will go are Martin Perez, Chris Sale (he’ll face off against Cristopher Sanchez on Saturday), and Grant Holmes, and they’ve been strong too.
Offensively, the Braves are second in the NL in runs scored (behind the Nationals?). Catcher Drake Baldwin is building off last year’s Rookie of the Year campaign, and Matt Olson is hitting up to his usual standards. They’ve also gotten surprising offensive contributions from shortstop Mauricio Dubon. The two-time Gold Glover has been an adequate at best hitter through most of his career, but he’s batting .333 in the early going.
Featured Brave: Dominic Smith
As expected, the Braves’ best hitter in the early going has been designated hitter Dominic Smith. Wait, what?
Smith was once a top 100 prospect for the Mets, but aside from an oddly strong campaign in the shortened 2020 season (he finished 13th in MVP voting!) he never established himself as much more than a quad-A player. He’s spent the last few years bouncing around the league, and after an unimpressive season as a bench player with the Giants in 2025, he signed with the Braves as a free agent.
Serving as the team’s primary DH, he’s off to a hot start, batting .381 with three home runs. There’s a strong likelihood that this start is unsustainable (IYKYK) and in a few weeks, Smith’s numbers will be back into the ordinary realm. But who knows? Smith wouldn’t be the first player to experience an odd breakout campaign in his early 30’s.
What about the Phillies?
The offense has been inconsistent, the starting pitching has been disappointing, and the relief pitching has become leaky. But perhaps the most annoying thing about the Phillies’ recent play is the sloppiness. They’ve made a lot of poor plays in the field and baserunning mistakes. If they want to turn this around, that’s the first thing that they can clean up.
Non-Phillies thought
This should be quite the weekend for Philadelphia sports. Not only will the Braves come to town, but the Sixers and Flyers begin their playoff runs. Both the basketball team and hockey team are in a similar situation: They’re the underdogs in a series against a traditional rival who has largely gotten the best of them over the years. (This might be the best scenario for the fans. As I’ve learned, Philadelphia sports fans greatly prefer underdogs with lessened expectations.)
As a special cherry on top, this weekend is also Wrestlemania! Looks like I might need to set up multiple televisions, although the last time I did that was for game five of the NLDS and the Eagles on Thursday Night Football, and that night went very poorly.
Pennant year song battle
Everybody Wants You has been defeated! It’s a Mistake by Men at Work is our new title holder.
The next contender comes from 2008 and describes how the Phillies have too often looked this season: Clumsy by Fergie:
Vote now:
Closing thought
While I don’t think the Phillies are as bad as they’ve looked, nor are the Braves as good as they’ve played. And it’s still only mid-April, so things can – and probably will – change in a hurry. That said, it would be great if the Phillies could win this series and avoid digging themselves too deep of a hole early in the season.
