The Atlanta Braves were cold. Ice cold. They scored eight runs in just four games, the lowest amount of runs scored this entire season over that long a span. Five of the eight runs came in one of the games.
As one Twitter user pointed out, some of the biggest stars combined for a 1.473 OPS in the series. Nick Castellanos and Bryce Harper exceeded that on their own for the Phillies.
There is plenty of blame to go around. These Braves went cold, with one player remaining as consistent as ever. Even so, his performance wasn't enough as the Braves were axed in four games, their magical season over.
Eddie Rosario
We're talking about cold bats in this article, but let's also briefly hit on Rosario's defense. In Game 3, an early ball was sent to the left center gap and Rosario jogged it out. The ball would have been a tough play, but still, Rosario seemed disinterested in even giving it a college try.
The left field position was a sore spot the whole series. Brian Snitker will unfairly catch blame for starting Kevin Pillar in Game 4, but Rosario was not a good option, either. Rosario went 1-for-7 and struck out three times. He slashed .143 across all three metrics and had an OPS of just .286.
Rosario was also a complete non-factor against the Phillies last year, going 0-for-8. In 2021, Rosario was a postseason hero. Where did that go?
Orlando Arcia
Orlando Arcia became a postseason villain when his gloating from the locker room after Game 2 was taken to print, despite his comments not being explicitly consented as "on the record."
Regardless of the ethical nature of Arcia's comments getting out there, they did, and they clearly motivated the Phillies. Arcia gloated and said, "Atta boy Harper!" repeatedly in the Braves locker room after Game 2. Then, Harper hit two home runs in Game 3, staring Arcia down as he jogged past him both times.
Worst of all with this situation is Arcia simply not backing up the talk with strong play. Arcia went 2-for-13 in the series and worked 1 walk. He struck out four times, a near non-factor at the plate entirely.
Worst of all, in the closeout game Arcia was seen barking back at fans. Clearly, he wasn't locked in.
If you want to play the villain role, you've got to perform.
Michael Harris II
Of players I have on this list, Michael Harris II is surely one that I feel bad about pointing to as a player who went cold. Harris showed how elite his arm is in Game 2, effectively winning the sole game for the Braves this series.
In Game 4, he created yet another double play out of center field. He was not to be messed with defensively.
Yet, offensively, Harris was hardly present. He had no hits and no walks in his 13 at-bats. He struck out three times. Goose egg slash line and a painful showing from the batter who helped prove how deep the Braves lineup was by putting up historic stats in the ninth spot on the lineup.
Harris was one of the more inexperienced players on the roster, surely with a bright future ahead still. He's struggled to figure it out in the postseason, though, now a combined 1-for-27 in his playoff at-bats.
Matt Olson
Matt Olson led the National League in slugging percentage for the 2023 season, a big reason why he was an All-Star. He also lead the entire MLB in home runs and RBI.
While his four hits were far more effective than some of his even deeper-struggling teammates, he put up no RBI and no home runs in a series where Philly seemed to prove Citizens Bank Park was built for a batter like Olson.
Instead, he slashed .250/.294/.250 in the series.
Olson was clearly defeated in the locker room after the elimination Thursday night:
"They were pitching well, too. They were mixing it up. We really just didn't square too much up," Olson said Thursday night to media.
Marcell Ozuna
After a year of reputation revitalization, Ozuna is nearly back where he ended last year. Of course, his stats are a step forward from the goose egg he put up in the NLDS in 2022 (he went 0-for-8 with no walks), but he still wasn't anything spectacular this series.
Ozuna slashed .154/.267/.154. He struck out in four of his 13 plate appearances, working two walks.
Ozuna parlayed a .687 OPS last year into a .905 this year, proving he wasn't the ineffective player he appeared to be in 2022.
The Braves may honestly look to trade Ozuna while his reputation is high. It remains to be seen if the postseason will leave a sour taste for potential suitors or not, but seeing as how Ozuna was far from the only player to see a slump, a poor NLDS shouldn't impact his trade value too much.
Ronald Acuña Jr.
Ronald Acuña Jr. should win MVP this season, but he looked like anything but the team's most valuable player when he stepped to the plate in this series.
In 17 plate appearances, the right fielder had two hits (one double) and two walks. He remained effective on the base paths, stealing two bases, nabbing an extra bag half the times he reached.
His splits of .143/.294/.214 in this series pale in comparison to what fans have come accustomed to expect from him. This season he slashed .337/.416/.596. Maintaining numbers like that in postseason ball isn't usually doable, but Acuña didn't come close.
In fact, it was his worst playoff series for battng average and slug. His on-base percentage was just good enough to best the 2018 NLDS against the Dodgers.
Austin Riley stayed ready
Bats freezing instantaneously seemed to be a chronic issue up and down the Braves lineup. Austin Riley is arguably the only player who did enough in the four postseason games to prove the slump wasn't some sort of higher-dimension voodoo trick placed on the Braves' entire team.
Riley went 6-for-17 and slashed .353/.353/.706, good for a 1.059 OPS in the four games against the Phillies. He batted in three of the Braves' eight runs scored throughout the series.
It was a massive step forward for Riley, specifically, who was subject to a deep slump in the 2022 NLDS against Philadelphia where he went 1-for-15.
Riley is taking the loss hard, telling Kevin McAlpin of Braves Radio Network, ""You look back over the year that we had and all the great success and get into the playoffs and things don't go your way, it's a tough pill to swallow."
Riley was, of course, one of the players to credit for the electric Game 2-winning double play. He backed up the cutoff man and sent the ball to first base to get Bryce Harper out after he had gotten over-aggressive on the base paths.
Were the Braves to move forward and win, that moment would surely have stuck out as one of the best of the playoff push.
