Ritchie Rich: the 2026 Braves Thread

flameout midseason or do the usual flameout entry round of the playoffs? if only a mets fan could dream of the latter option!

Mets catching strays here way ahead of schedule.

send receipts

Still weighing my viewing options: BarvesVision for $100, MLB.TV for $150, both for $200. If I worked days, there wouldn't be a question, but I'm at the bar 3-4 nights a week, so the price per game that I can actually watch is higher. Still no word if BV will be carried by Youtube.tv, which is what we have at the bar.

Strider's starting the season on the IL with an oblique strain, btw.

https://www.ajc.com/sports/2026/03/braves-announce-agreement-with-spectrum/

one of the few reasons I still have cable

absolute textbook opener

They looked totally hapless tonight (except for Reynaldo Lopez) until they didn't. Welcome, Dominic Smith!

Sarah Langs‬

Matt Olson is playing his 799th consecutive game today, dating to 5/2/21, the 11th-longest streak in MLB history

Never realized till today that Greg Maddux and Dave Justice were born on the same day--both celebrating their 60th.

Jose Suarez looks so much like Bartolo Colón I can't stand it. Anyway, good Philly-smashing tonight, welcome back to baseball Austin Riley.

i did not have Bryce Elder and Grant Holmes penciled in for the starting pitcher WAR leaderboard

Dom Smith has been way too productive at DH to hand all his ABs over to Murphy when he comes off the IL. I've never been all that convinced about Murphy's offensive value to begin with.

Ritchie getting the call-up, starting tomorrow vs Nats

they need to lock up Baldwin to a 10 year deal ASAP

walked away from the game after the first inning and did not expect that box score

I almost dread Murphy and Kim coming back from the IL. Don't screw with a good thing!

RIP Bobby Cox

Not sure what Grant Holmes’s problem is. Lack of focus or just having freaky conversations with himself after a few innings…definitely mental and not mechanical.

Kim’s godawful defense gives me heartburn

So does his godawful offense

That was a very typical Mets-backing DeGrom pitching performance.

Anthopoulos needs to lock Dubon into a horribly-team-friendly (Albies/Acuna) contract ASAP

yes

the fact the double steal/homeplate steal was buried says a lot. this is maybe one of the most devious teams i've ever seen.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/jun/19/spencer-strider-braves-vegan-bernie-sanders-baseball

Can’t say I’m too surprised to find Strider is one of the good guys

Man, the fanbase really wants Anthopoulos's head on a plate for not giving them the Guaranteed Rotation Monster they had on their wishlist. I'm a little disappointed but not screeching and ripping my shirt. I may change my tune here in an hour or so when Grant Holmes gets to the 2nd time through the MIA order.

I mean, if the rumors true they did try for DeGrom and failed, can’t really fault him as badly as it seems a lot of fans have been.

Watching Acuña at bat, it's not surprising that his lower body is always breaking down. He wants 125 mph exit velo or nothing.

I was never a fan of Acuña like I am of Baldwin, Strider, Ozzie et al, but the Kalshi thing is turning me into a hater.

is he promoting Kalshi?

Yes -- I've seen his commercial for them a couple of times the past few days. I saw a NYT headline that said he was "the first MLB star," which I take to mean the first MLB player, to sign on to promote them. On top of the bad decision on his part, it's an extremely stupid commercial.

the one where he lives under home plate? it doesn't even make sense.

that's the one
Prediction-market commercials are as ridiculous and OTT as insurance commercials because the products they sell don't bear any scrutiny. Just let Eli Manning tackle people through walls or call a yellow blob of furry snot Liberty Biberty, just distract the people enough.

I generally love Ronnie sorry 😎 I do not care if he didn’t like Snitker however he can go to hell for the Kalshi thing

it's all depressing. as i mentioned in the hoops thread related to this topic, it's a bunch of extremely wealthy people (who will likely never use the product) trying to convince people, who have far less money and might even be struggling, to basically go and lose their money. when you see the number of "problem gamblers" just in the United States, and see that 17% of them will attempt suicide at some point in their lives, it becomes even more of a scummy thing.

Yep. Bryce Harper Draftkings thing in similar vein and just as gross