These days, fandom begets memes (if it’s a fandom worth a damn, anyway), and the Braves team meeting in Arizona meme is so oddly specific as to be infinitely amusing when it comes up.
In case you’ve been unaware (suspiciously, if so…) — in both 2022 and 2023, the Braves went to Phoenix to play the Diamondbacks, had a team meeting, and turned on the jets afterwards. In 2022, the Braves were 23-27 after dropping the first two games in Phoenix; they salvaged a win 6-0 as the first part of a 21-6 June, and then continued to scald the standings the rest of the way. The 2023 team meeting came during a far less dire time, as the Braves were still 33-24 after dropping the first game of their series at Chase Field. But, that meant they were 15-15 in their last 30, which I guess was not to everyone’s liking.
The Braves didn’t have a team meeting in Arizona in 2024 — they split four games there as part of a 4-3 West Coast swing right before the All-Star Break. Still, they couldn’t get away from it entirely, as the team meeting happened amid a losing streak that happened right after the All-Star Break.
This year, it’s unclear if the timing lines up. The Braves are 10-14, which is team meeting territory. But they’ve also just won five of six, and perhaps more importantly, the Diamondbacks look really formidable on paper: second-best xwOBA in MLB, fifth-best xFIP- in MLB, so some trials and tribulations on the road wouldn’t be unexpected here, though definitely concerning for the team’s playoff odds at this point anyway.
Yesterday’s wOBA and xwOBA: n/a (Season rank: 14th | 7th)
Yesterday’s wOBA and xwOBA allowed: n/a (Season rank: 21st | 22nd)
Yesterday’s homers: n/a
Yesterday’s homers allowed: n/a
Record when out-xwOBAing: 7-6 (League: 273-96)
Record when out-xwOBAed: 3-8 (League: 96-273)
Record when out-wOBAing: 10-2 (League: 314-56)
Record when out-wOBAed: 0-12 (League: 56-314)
Record when outhomering: 6-3 (League: 193-55)
Record when outhomered: 0-7 (League: 55-193)