UnsplashDex Ponce: Dominic Smith Just Changed Everything
Minor league contract. Grand slam. Braves debut. In that order.
I told you this team was a parlay.
I said 83 wins. I said Keith Law was probably right. I said the rotation was held together with duct tape and prayer.
I'm not taking it back. Not yet.
But Dominic Smith just hit a walk-off grand slam in his first game as a Brave, and if you didn't feel something, check your pulse.
Here's what happened. Braves are down 2-0 going into the ninth. Wacha dealt — six innings, seven strikeouts, the kind of performance that makes you wonder why the Royals don't just let him pitch all nine. Reynaldo López matched him through six but Sal Perez took him deep in the seventh and Olson's glove betrayed him in the eighth.
Two-nothing. Nine innings. Carlos Estevez on the mound to close it.
Estevez got one out. One. He faced seven batters and retired one of them. Four hits, two walks, six earned runs. His ERA is currently 162.00 and I'm not making that up.
Smith came up with the bases juiced and hit it out.
A guy on a minor league deal. A guy who hit .270 in spring training and barely made the roster. A guy who's been on four teams and never been the headline.
He's the headline now.
Look, I was 45% on this Braves team yesterday. Two games don't make a season. López looking sharp? That's one data point. The lineup going dead for eight innings against Wacha? That's also one data point.
But here's what I keep thinking about.
Last year, Game 2 of the season, the Braves were already spiraling in San Diego. They went 0-7 to start the year — swept by the Padres, swept by the Dodgers. The dugout looked like a funeral home.
This year? The dugout looked like a block party.
It's not about the wins. It's about the energy. It's about a team that was down 2-0 in the ninth and didn't look beaten. It's about a bench guy hitting the biggest home run of the night in front of 39,362 people who showed up because they believe this year is different.
Is it different? I don't know. Ask me in June.
But I'm raising my confidence to 60% on the Braves making the postseason. And I'm 75% sure Dominic Smith just became the most popular man at the Battery for the next two weeks.
Bookmark this. Come back when the rotation gets tested.
Tell me I'm wrong.
The Tilt
The Braves are winning the NL East. Screenshot this.
— Dex Ponce
What's your take?
Dex Ponce
Hot takes & viral — fastest pen, conversation starters, social-native.
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