The Epic Battle for the National League East, 2022

[@SurferLucas]

As Ben Ingram, voice of the Atlanta Braves said at the end of last series “You come at the Kings, you’d better not miss”.

[@davisgorman3470]

How was “The NL East is Over!” not in the video 😂

[@VictorRodriguez-qn1kz]

As a Mets fan fuck sal

[@ronnywestbrooks3794]

From the idiot from NY

[@Dr.Krankenstein]

For real. Wish I could’ve seen that guys candid reaction when the Mets officially lost the division

[@yeshayahzaner6960]

Oh my god that video

[@Hunter-th2fr]

As a Braves fan in the south east, I've been to a lot of games over my life, 25 years, but the final Mets and Braves series was by far the best regular season series I have ever been too! All of us knowing we need to sweep, thinking it's impossible but still believing. Such a high to end the season I think really hurt us though, we were flat after that series while Philly did the opposite and they deserved to beat us and deserved to lose

[@homerunproductions162]

Swanson and Olson rose to the occasion and took down the Mets' best on the mound. It was awesome to watch, insane atmosphere.

[@DoubleETV]

You said it best. They beat the hell out of eachother and had nothing left in the tank.

[@cripple9860]

Combine that with the Phillies getting crazy hot out of nowhere too

[@Jay-fo5no]

Yea the Braves looked exhausted against the marlins and I noticed to myself maybe they used everything they had against the Mets

[@Lorrddyyy]

GGs to the Braves they got us.

[@Jay-fo5no]

I think the Braves and Mets battled so hard that they were both exhausted by playoff time

[@iwasthewalrus9204]

Thanks man. Should be another fun battle this year as well.

[@twrecks-mt1ur]

As a die hard Braves fan, that battle was great all year. But I hate how both of our teams just got killed in this race by the time the playoffs came around. That race took everything from both teams.

[@thomasrogers2]

Great recap! Both teams were great in 2022

[@showtimenick824]

Watching 3 weeks late but speaking of the 2021 NL East race, I remember I found your channel through your video on the Braves that year.

[@homerunproductions162]

Right, that was my 3rd video ever I think

[@MeargleSchmeargle]

The roughly 365 day stretch between watching my Braves finally win a WS in my lifetime, and then top it off with a legendary regular season chase-down of the ages immediately after, was easily the peak of my life when it comes to Braves fandom. They fully put the optimism back in me when no other Atlanta team would, or even the majority of Braves teams in the last decade. Every night they made the unthinkable happen, the impossible achievable. Everyone should be able to experience something like this at least once as a sports fan.

[@coastersandbrews]

2023 is going to be even more wild. Phillies, Braves and Mets are all stacked. Phillies will take the Division 💯

[@homerunproductions162]

Phillies definitely got better. Braves maybe got slightly better. Mets may have slid back a notch or are about even.

[@fullcircle8231]

Philadelphia still has to prove they aren't a fluke, let alone taking the most competitive division in baseball... a division that Atlanta has won for six consecutive years now. I'd bet on history repeating itself yet again this season

[@coastersandbrews]

@@fullcircle8231 lol a fluke? When they finally fired girardi they had one of the best records in the league since the firing. Dismantling the braves in the first round wasn’t a fluke

[@pauls.5815]

Yea the Braves destroying the Met's hopes and dreams was just as good as a World Series. I even said in 2021, "Let us beat the Astros this series, they can win it in 2022. I just want one World Series"

[@enthusiastJD]

Bro the NL East is wild im a nationals fan and i just enjoy watching the chaos

[@weatheredseeker]

Nice recap. I think how good this division was really set up the Phillies well. They were basically in the playoffs all year having to play the Braves and Mets over and over again, so once they got to the Cardinals in the wild card the Cards had no chance. I think the little bit of time off after this intense race actually hurt the Braves. Like how when you run a lot you don't feel it until you sit down and then get back up. Once the Braves sat down they couldn't get back up, and they never really looked awake against the Phillies.

[@Ellerich3]

I absolutely agree, that break really stunned their momentum bc when showed back up to play they were flat

[@DBinDC]

(huge Braves fan here) I agree. The tanks for both the Braves and Mets were on 'E' after that division battle the last half of the year. I know the Braves had to turn around and play a hot divisional rival Phillies and as one of the worst day game teams in MLB, they got ALL DAY GAMES.. Thanks Manfred. It was a great season and that last month was awesome to watch.

[@Spt9153]

Also the Braves had a rare team meeting the day they started the 14 game win streak

[@aldenweaver8237]

I was at that Sunday night game against the Mets when we swept the Mets.

[@homerunproductions162]

I woulda loved to have been there just to see that atmosphere

[@aldenweaver8237]

@@homerunproductions162 it was awesome, but honestly most braves games these days get around the same size crowd on the weekends with the same atmosphere. Still really special but that’s how we like to keep Truist park.

[@Captain_Neckbeard]

That last series against the Mets was one of my favorite series, ever. Go Braves!

[@barelyontime]

I was at the three final Mets braves games and the atmosphere in truist was electric. It felt like our World Series that weekend. They came out flat in the playoffs and it felt like all the energy went into winning the division. Wouldn’t trade it for the world what a great season

[@jpg1212]

Was an amazing season. Probably my favorite season as a Braves fan ever. We were unstoppable.

[@homerunproductions162]

Just watching it on TV it was intimidating as hell. I don't think I've ever seen a baseball stadium like that

[@barelyontime]

@@homerunproductions162 it felt like I never sat down once all three nights. Absolutely the best baseball experience I’ve ever had

[@carterjmoore]

Crazy how this battle went on for the Phillies to make it further 😔

[@homerunproductions162]

Right? The whole year was about Mets Braves and nobody would believe another team from that division won the pennant

[@richardstewart85]

And the end of the day the Phillies was the last team standing in the NL East and if we had rob Thompson as the manager at the beginning of the season, who knows we probably would’ve hung the NL East flag they went 65-46 when he took over. But it is what it is. We didn’t get the NL East title but we did get the National League championship. We didn’t get the big one but that’s a hell of an accomplishment after the way the season started.

[@homerunproductions162]

Yep the Phillies were build to be a contender so it's good they figured it out after switching managers. It cost them a shot at the division but lucky for them, they added a new wildcard spot this year.

[@Shawn6751]

Enjoy that NL crown, I don't see you guys recovering from getting no hit in the World Series and blowing a 2-1 Series lead.

[@richardstewart85]

@@Shawn6751 I beg to differ, I definitely think we’re going to recover. In fact we have improved as a team with all bullpen and a bench and definitely a rotation the addition of Walker and the subtraction Gibson is a tremendous upgrade. And if this kid, Andrew Painter hands out the way they talking who is the second coming of Greg Maddux rotation, will be among the best baseball. And good our depth is we didn’t have Bryce for 2 months and lose any momentum, and going back to my original point. We now have Rob Thompson from the start of the season now let’s see how this division race turns out.

[@RAB6969]

i doubt the Phillies would have won the division any way you look at it but what is undeniable is they had the right guys in the perfect situation to do what they did in the playoffs. they got hot and handily beat teams that had maybe run out of gas until they got they ran of gas themselves. everything worked in thier favor except the very end. it was painful but exciting to watch lol. 2023 is gonna be interesting with 3 really good team at the top of the NL East.

[@enthusiastJD]

This was such a good recap of ths season awesome job btw

[@homerunproductions162]

Thanks!

[@OklahomaCoasterFan]

It was amazing to watch this race, especially since my team ended up winning. It seemed to me that the Braves did empty the tank to win the division. I wasn't surprised that they went out quietly in the playoffs. In regards to the tied records, I'm okay with tiebreakers being used to decide between division champion & wild card, but I will have a problem with situations where a team's season ends because of a tiebreaker. I feel that those should be decided on the field in a game 163.

[@homerunproductions162]

Correct me if I am wrong but Game 163 is still possible for playoff/non-playoff scenarios?

[@OklahomaCoasterFan]

@@homerunproductions162 As of last year, there are no more Game 163s in any circumstance. Statistic tiebreakers will be used even for deciding who goes to the playoffs and whose season is over. They could change it back, but it was removed last year. I didn't agree with it, not for baseball.

[@homerunproductions162]

I didn't know that, I guess it didn't come up. But it makes sense given how they keep expanding the playoffs and can't afford to push it back at all

[@SamtheBravesFan]

To answer the end question: Fried was sick leading up to the playoffs and still wasn't well, and Strider was making his first start coming off an injury and he was just awful.

[@doc8013]

Yeah, Fried was down like 10 or 15 pounds. Worst start he'd had all year and it was absolutely due to his illness. Strider looked okay for a couple innings but even in those you could tell his stuff wasn't as sharp as normal. Offense wasn't great either. Perfect storm of bad ingredients.

[@SamtheBravesFan]

@@doc8013 That's the thing too; even if they steamroll everyone and make the playoffs again, those bad ingredients could pop up again in a random small sample.

[@jeremiah_12]

It was a combination of the NL East Race and running into hot teams. Atlanta knew Philadelphia but we played like we’ve never seen them before. The Braves, Mets, and Dodgers were all sluggish. The NLCS should have been Braves vs Dodgers part 3 but yeah, it is what it is.

[@RAB6969]

still waiting on Braves-Dodgers part 3 myself. it has to happen with both teams at thier best.

[@jeremiah_12]

@@RAB6969 I don’t know, the Dodgers took some hits and really got weaker while San Diego got a lot stronger. As a Braves supporter, I really wanted to see the Mets vs Dodgers in last year’s playoffs (which would have went to the wire) and then Bravos vs a very tired Dodgers squad. We’ll see this year though.

[@Ryokohbi]

Yeah, I remarked as a Braves fan that the team put it all out there to win the east but died against the Phillies just to exhaustion. Not taking away much from the Phillies but man. That was a hard ass season.

[@NewsomSportsATL]

Time for the Braves yearly journey to another crown while getting slept on the whole time cause we’re not northeast spenders, ah how I love baseball

[@homerunproductions162]

It's hard to sleep on the Braves but watch to see how much more attention Philly gets this year. NL Champs + Trea Turner

[@Shawn6751]

​@@homerunproductions162 Phillies is going to suck this season. They won't recover from getting no hit in Game 4 of the World Series.

[@doc8013]

​@@Shawn6751 lol they def ain't gonns suck, bro.

[@JasonSmith-qe3vb]

As a braves fan I'm so use to being slept on. Were gonna have a great season

[@v2micca]

I don't think the Braves are being slept on this year. A lot of analytic sites have them as one of the best, if not the best team in baseball. They are currently a team with no glaring holes and solid depth.

[@braves4life25]

Chop on!!! 🪓🪓🪓

[@adambuckler1398]

As a Braves fan, such a disappointing postseason honestly didn’t hurt that much after stomping all over the Mets to win the East - that series felt like winning the pennant.

[@homerunproductions162]

I couldn't believe the atmosphere at Truist during that Sunday Night game

[@mdillinger2010]

Well we also had just won the World Series so that helps sooth the depresison.

[@Untoastedbagel1271]

As a Braves fan, I don’t know how I feel about how that postseason and season went, we outlasted the Mets but got dumped on by the Phillies

[@homerunproductions162]

Funny how the Phillies were never in this conversation yet they were the last ones standing

[@Untoastedbagel1271]

Came out of absolute nowhere on a miracle run. Impressive they got as far as they did.

[@chrissolar2543]

Phillies shouldn’t have been in the playoffs. Playoffs should not have been expanded. I will die on that hill

[@williamabaker12]

I think there was too much stock put into winning the division for both the Mets and Braves. When that race was finally over, both teams were mentally and physically spent. It showed in how both played in the playoffs. Remember the last series we played against the Phils before that, we swept them.

[@acgonzales7]

@@williamabaker12 most of the offense didn't show up but Fried and Strider being shells of themselves after injury/illness may have been worse.

[@haydensmith8779]

Just one thing,” You come at the kings you better not miss!”

[@BennyintheBoothPodcast]

I was at the Cubs Braves game where the 14 game winning streak ended

[@himartinez3515]

The New York media was all over the high price Mets pitchers after being swept by the Braves and losing to the Padres. Hoping for a better 2022 outcome for the Mets. It will be interesting to see if Degrom stays healthy in Texas.

[@homerunproductions162]

It will also be interesting if Scherzer and Verlander BOTH pitch at an elite level when they're both pushing 40

[@jamessinclair5859]

As a Phillies fans I’m not gonna remember that there were 2 100 wins nl east teams in 2022 I’ll be remembering the nl east that have playoff success

[@Shawn6751]

Yeah as the team that choked in the World Series. 3 championship losses in 99 days.

[@tom6875]

best part is people think the Mets are going to do it this year LOL! Braves are going to destroy this season.

[@homerunproductions162]

I think the Braves and Mets are about the same this year and the Phillies got a lot better so...maybe a 3 way race like we saw in the 2015 NL Central where every team won 97 games or more

[@hydrolic474]

What I'm hearing is that the a's should be given the NL East

[@homerunproductions162]

That's a legit takeaway from this video

[@SamtheBravesFan]

And I know some Braves fans who blame Snitker specifically for putting the Braves in that early hole. They think he punted winnable games by throwing bad relievers out to just make scores worse for the Braves.

[@JorgeDiaz-ly5qp]

Did the guy who made this video also tout Enron back in the early/mid 2000's?

[@feliperomero7981]

Can’t wait for opening day Really exited about my 23’ Philadelphia Phillies… #RingTheBell

[@homerunproductions162]

I would be too if I was a phils fan

[@Jay-fo5no]

It’s gonna be fun I’m a Braves fan and it’s gonna be last year all over again but it’s gonna be all 3 of us this year back and forth

[@opiecunningham1570]

And it ended up with the Phillies, a third place team that finished 14 games back, given a chance to win it all. Sad how the 162 game struggle means very little now.

[@homerunproductions162]

Yep, the playoffs are such a crapshoot and it's amazing that a 101 win season can end in 2 or 3 games.

[@braves4life25]

I hate the extra teams… but of course they’re going to allow it more $$

[@David-pt6zk]

Gonna do it again

[@DoingitWrongDG]

Chop till you drop baby. LET'S GOOOOOO

[@lexiescalderon5639]

Wait till Miami pops up this year 😈 (just come back to this comment after the season)

[@homerunproductions162]

Haha ok I will hold you to this one

[@fullcircle8231]

😂😂😂 Miami has the same issue they have for the past 5 years, a pretty good rotation... with nothing to support it

[@frazerdale6343]

Kinda disagree that Marcel Ozuna is a “key guy” and Olsen is an upgrade at 1st base…

[@homerunproductions162]

Well I was kind of looking at it from the point of view at the time. Ozuna was a near-MVP in the season before he had his legal issues and Olson didn't have as good a season as Freeman, but when the trade was made the numbers were pretty even and Olson is 5 years younger

[@chase7624]

As a Yankees fan, a World Series would’ve been nice but seeing the Mets collapse was the next best thing.

[@macspinks8541]

As a Braves fan I was actually hoping for a Braves/Yankees World Series.

[@Luke_Skyraptor]

That moment when you just realized this is Airtime Thrills’ other channel 🤦🏻‍♂️ LGM

[@johnparsons1573]

How about the Phillies

[@homerunproductions162]

Phillies never really challenged for the division but they had the last laugh for sure

[@matthewcollins8602]

The Braves have won their division like 75% of the time since 1991. They've won 2 World Series Championships, 7 NL Pennants, and it feels like they and the Astros make great new players at will. During that time the Mets haven't won their division like 4 times, 2 NL Pennants, & 0 World Series. They've consistently out spent 90% of the rest of the teams in MLB. The math might be marginally off but it's close enough to see the Mets organization has always been awful for awhile

[@homerunproductions162]

The Mets will pop up every now and then and have an awesome team... 1999/2000, 2006, 2015, 2022, and in the middle of those years a lot of obscurity. But at least they'll pop up once in a while.

[@matthewcollins8602]

@Home Run Productions that is a positive take for Mets fans for sure. There's the ridiculous claims that the Wilpons didn't spend when in reality the Mets were always in top tier in payroll even then. It's something about the organization that's being overlooked by everyone I believe. Steve Cohen has not been the savior once thought

[@homerunproductions162]

There's spending and then there's smart spending. The Angels definitely fall into the camp of spending and getting nothing out of it, though in their defense their investments don't seem bad at the time. They just seem to always end up that way.

[@matthewcollins8602]

@@homerunproductions162 I'd put the Mets in that same category. It would be difficult to take their payroll historically and end the season with the poor records they mostly do. Seems like players just dupe the Mets and Angels into paying them whatever they need until retirement lol

[@acgonzales7]

@@matthewcollins8602 you could argue the Mets spent recklessly this year. They have a lot of guys with extreme upside, but invested a lot of risk in the roster. Rotation averages like 34 years old and the years/AAV given to Nimmo and Diaz could look pretty bad halfway through those deals.

[@markmceathron2013]

The Mets are allergic to September

[@mtlikelyausten5564]

The Brewers and Cardinals was a great race until the cardinals just blew up during august and couldn't be beat for a month and a half

[@homerunproductions162]

And the Brewers bizarre trade deadline blew up in their faces

[@tylerlaird9543]

NL East was weak??? Third best team went to the World Series

[@homerunproductions162]

In 2021 it was

[@marcoperdomo283]

You right 3 teams in the playoffs..

[@VictorRodriguez-qn1kz]

Both teams battled it out just for the Phillies to win the NLCS 💀💀💀

[@DustinBowen1]

Mediocre all around? Thats a stretch. There was some fluky stuff happening that cost some unfortunate early wins, but all the peripherals indicated that the Braves were underperforming while the Mets were overperforming. At the end of the season, the on field results normalized. Also, that mid season series in Atlanta was a joke. Our starters suddenly couldn't locate pitches after having one of the most dominant stretches of any starting rotation in MLB all season long. Lo and behold, we learn that MLB was manipulating balls mid season. Hits that should have been out died at the warning track, and Atl dominated the hard hit% but was exceedingly unlucky in BABIP and exBA while the Mets had the opposite luck. Same with the unorthodox 5 game series in NY. Atl broadcasters said it was like playing in a haunted house. Nothing happening on the field felt normal, like somehow the Mets would win no matter what. That came home to roost in the final matchup.

[@homerunproductions162]

Just to be sure, I said the Braves were mediocre up to that point, under .500 and in the bottom half in the league in pitching and hitting. Mediocre was a nice word for them thru the end of May.

[@VictorRodriguez-qn1kz]

All I'm saying is the braves were on a 120 win pace 💀💀 Also if marte doesn't get hurt the Mets win the east

[@fullcircle8231]

So in other words you're saying complete hypotheticals💀😂 Going by that logic, if Albies never got hurt then the Mets would've never even had a CHANCE to win the division come that last series against the two.

[@Jay-fo5no]

Marte alone wouldn’t do anything

[@VictorRodriguez-qn1kz]

@@Jay-fo5no an all star CF,? Yeah ok buddy shoes what you know

[@Jay-fo5no]

@@VictorRodriguez-qn1kz one star player can’t change shit look at the angels trout is s star he can’t carry the team ohtani the best player in baseball can’t carry a team

[@Jay-fo5no]

It’s a team sport this isn’t basketball you have 8 other spots that need to perform to win plus your pitcher

[@enthusiastJD]

See the problem is you can only piss off the mets so much i think they are gonna explode this year

[@homerunproductions162]

They're still good, so could be

[@Shawn6751]

Mets are going to suck, lolMets is here to stay.

[@Jay-fo5no]

Mets problem is they spend a shitload of money and don’t try to actually develop players, then when their billion dollar player get hurt their backups suck bc they haven’t been trained nearly as well as teams like the Braves

[@WILDFIRE101]

This was soon made irrelevant two weeks later

[@Michael-kj7vs]

as a mets fan, this hurts. opening day cannot come sooner.

[@homerunproductions162]

Mets should be in the mix again. Riding 2 horses pushing 40 is kinda risky though

[@Michael-kj7vs]

@@homerunproductions162 tell me about it. as a lifelong fan, born in ‘84, i’ve learned quite well that whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. but, in uncle stevie we believe! LFGM.

[@Landon_Vasquez]

I agree my friend

[@NewsomSportsATL]

Same thing finna happen

[@braves3526]

As a Braves fan, I respect you and your team. It’s a great rivalry!