Today, after seeking advice from my Braves Journal peers and writing team via email, I’ve come to a decision to remove blazon from the site. Personal insults are never cool here, but until they go too far, we have always practiced patience, allowing things to settle before acting. Unfortunately, the words “Proud Boy or Nazi”, which was used by blazon to describe me here and on email, are more than hurtful. They are degrading words that serve only one purpose.

I don’t want to discuss this further. It saddens me deeply to remove anyone from this wonderful site as it’s my first time in having to do so. I’ll continue to practice patience and seek guidance from our plethora of wise individuals in all decisions concerning Braves Journal. Thanks to all that helped me process.

William Contreras NEEDS more PT

William Contreras has 71 plate appearances. In those PAs, he’s collected 8 walks, 7 singles, 5 doubles, and 7 HRs. His triple slash line sits at .302/.380/.714 (YOU KIDDING ME?). In the 18 games that Contreras has earned a start, the Braves have a record of 11-7. In those 18 games, he was responsible for 17 runs, nearly a run per game. The one game he played OF, he looked atrocious, but no more atrocious than Marcell Ozuna does EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. It’s time for Brian Snitker to find a spot for Contreras in the every day lineup.

Only 2 Braves Prospects Make Baseball America’s Top 100

I’m not saying they’re wrong. They’re probably right that the Braves only have 2 guys in their system currently worthy of being in the Top-100. Michael Harris made HUGE strides this year and BA rewarded him by moving him up 19 spots to the #18 overall prospect. I’m a firm believer that BA made this call not because of the bat, but because they (like me) have changed their mind on Harris and believe that he can be a true above average defensive CFer with, at the least, a league average bat.

The 2nd Braves player donning the list was Spencer Strider, who continues to be severely underrated, coming in as the 99th best prospect in baseball according to BA. However, I’m going to change the “BA” to “BS” because there’s no way, especially now that he’s in the rotation, that there are 98 prospects in front of Strider. The dude is carrying a 3.45 ERA with a 3.38 K/BB ratio. His FIP is 1.89. His xFIP is 2.66. He deserves a better ranking, but I’m guessing they’re hesitant to move him up because he’s essentially been just a reliever in the bigs thus far. If he stays in the rotation the rest of the year, he’ll not be a rookie in 2023, so his prospect status wouldn’t matter anymore (not that it really does now either). However, if I were ranking Strider, he’d definitely be in the top-50.

Tonight’s Game Will Be Streamed on Apple TV+

I know this is frustrating for some, but I’ve found the Apple TV broadcast a refreshing break from the cliche machine that is Chip Caray. To watch for free, all you have to do is have an Apple ID. Click on the image above and you’ll be in there like swimwear.

Braves Lineup

Ozzie Albies, who’s driving the struggle bus with co-pilot Adam Duvall, gets a night off. My dream of getting William Contreras regular AB’s will have to be postponed one more day. At least Marcell Ozuna isn’t running around in the grass tonight.