Ramón Laureano, Brian Snitker: “Every day for us was Game 7 for the Atlanta Braves”

It's win-or-go home season for the Atlanta Braves, and normally such a situation brings with it tremendous pressure to perform to keep postseason hopes alive. However, if manager Brian Snitker and outfielder Ramón Laureano are to be believed, it's just another Wednesday night for the 2024 Braves.

“I guess we've been in this situation all month,” Laureano said when asked whether or not there is a collective sense of urgency in the Atlanta clubhouse right now. His experience is consistent with the Atlanta Braves' overall experience with their club culture, which is that it never really gets too high or too low depending on the state of things. Because of this culture and collective mindset, Laureano said, “We feel like it’s just another day, literally another day.”

Laureano continued and compared this experience to what he had been through in similar situations at other clubs. “You know it happens. Talking about it will only add more stress. They talk about it a lot in other teams. We don't do that on this team. That’s why we’ve handled situations like this in the past (like the Braves).”

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For what it's worth, the Braves enter their 40th-ever postseason elimination game with a record of 14-25 (.359 winning percentage). So historically it's not really great – unless we're talking batting average. then you take this every day and twice on Sundays. That being said, this Braves team has shown a ton of resilience under Brian Snitker, so it really wouldn't be shocking if Max Fried and the Braves actually rose from the mat to ensure this Wild Card series goes into the decider Third and final game.

Speaking of Snitker, the old captain sounded confident as he spoke to the media last night, and he continued to exude confidence as he discussed his team's chances in the impending elimination. As for Max Fried in particular, Ramón Laureano expressed confidence in him being his starting player tonight, and Snitker did the same when speaking to the media after Laureano.

Snitker pointed out as one of the reasons that Fried has a ton of postseason experience (he will join John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux in the club of Braves pitchers who have 20-plus postseason appearances and 10-plus postseason appearances). -starts for Atlanta). to believe he's going to make it big tonight. “He’s been through it all,” Snitker said. “He officiated the decisive games of the World Series. He's been there many times in the postseason and has experience in it (…) He knows what it feels like. I think he appreciates that.”

The manager also reiterated that his pitching staff has its hands full – and that includes a possible Game 3. “Our bullpen is in great shape. But what these guys did yesterday was really, really good. First, we've allowed some of the people we've been using a day two days in a row to have a day…Now we have the people we can lean on and take advantage of. “They're willing to go with me two days in a row.” With that in mind, Snitker said he doesn't want to push Reynaldo López into duty “unless we're really in a bind,” suggesting that they are will likely turn to him to start Game 3 if all goes well tonight.

Either way, you can't worry about tomorrow without winning tonight. It's easy to talk about the task, but completing it is a completely different task. The San Diego Padres have been playing as well as any team in baseball since the All-Star break and were dominant in last night's win. The Braves need to break out Joe Musgrove at the plate to take advantage of the great performances from Max Fried and the rest of this pitching staff. That's much easier said than done, but it's something the Braves have to do if they want to keep their postseason hopes alive for at least one more night.