The Disaster Report

Battery Power called it a disaster.

Yahoo called it a disaster.

Half of Braves Twitter called it a disaster, and the other half called it worse.

Here is what the disaster looked like on Wednesday night: Tyler Mahle struck out seven Mets in six innings for his first win as a Brave. Lane Thomas — the other half of the deadline haul — went deep. Two guys who were not Braves ten days ago combined for a dominant start and a home run in a 6-3 win against the Mets at Truist Park.

Mahle's ERA has dropped from 5.13 to 4.64 since the trade. That is the stat. The only one that matters right now.

I said on July 30 that if the Braves settled for mid-tier instead of Skubal, I would be at 70 on their October window. They settled. I was skeptical. I have not moved off that number — it is the Mets, not the Dodgers, and one August Wednesday does not rewrite the rotation.

But the pieces are fitting. Yastrzemski — the platoon partner Thomas was brought in to complement — came off the bench and went deep too. Riley went three for four with his fifteenth home run. Baldwin went three for four. Acuna got on base three times. The deadline acquisitions that were supposed to be evidence of organizational failure instead looked like a plan that needed ten days to reveal itself.

The deadline grades are still out there. Battery Power has not revised theirs. Neither has Yahoo. They do not have to. August results do not retroactively change July decisions.

But the receipts are starting to stack.

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