Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What are the expectations for the Cubs-Braves series?
Rahimi Harrison-Grody.
AJ, how are you?
Good. I can't believe how fancy y'all are now. I mean, it used to just be a radio call-in show. Now I got to put clothes on to do this thing. I can't peak too early. I got to kind of try to control my peaking. So, you know, it's a little early to already put a shirt and a hat on. Middays 10 to 2 on 104.3 The Score.
Mateo whacks it out towards right center field, slicing away from Paez, down for a base hit. Yastrzemski scores, and it's a 7-2 lead. 0-1 pitch. Fly ball to left field, going back Dubon. Mauricio's there, lights out in L.A.
Chapter 2: How have the Braves performed this season so far?
Braves take this series, and they completely suffocated the Dodgers with brilliant pitching.
Now that is some descriptive language, and that is partially why we are having Ben Ingram on. Welcome to Rahimi Harrison-Grody. He is the Braves Radio Network play-by-play announcer, co-host of the From the Braves Booth podcast. He is at Ingram Radio on X. Ben, thank you for coming on.
Yeah, thanks for having me. Good to speak with you today.
And I know you're also on Twitch with us, twitch.tv slash thescoreschicago. We're excited to watch this series. We were talking to Ian Happ about it earlier. If you like baseball, this is the series for you. Two of the best teams squaring off tonight.
Yeah, this is going to be great. And for the Braves, it's another team that I'd say is one of the best teams in the game. We just finished a road trip where we saw Seattle and L.A.
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Chapter 3: What factors have contributed to the Braves' success in 2026?
and now seeing the Cubs. And it's a really tough stretch, but I think that's fun, especially for this time of year where we're about a quarter of the way into the season and trying to figure out exactly who everybody is and what they are. And it's always good to see one of the other really good teams in the league.
Ben, the stats bear out who you guys are. Only one series loss all season long. And then to know that you lead the league in both ā Runs and ERA. Best pitching, best hitting. I mean, that's a formula right there to win a lot of ball games. What do you think has been most impressive about the Braves in 2026?
A few things come to mind. I mean, I really thought this team would hit. I mean, just watching them at spring training, the offensive numbers don't surprise me. I thought they were due for a bounce-back season. The pitching is what has surprised me.
Chapter 4: Why is Matt Olson having an outstanding season?
The pitching has not only been good, it's been significantly better than I ever imagined. I thought it was a team that was pretty thin in the rotation, and they still kind of are. I mean, you have one injury to this rotation, you got some big-time questions to answer. I thought the bullpen would be solid, but my biggest question mark was with the rotation. Those guys have been terrific.
Chris Sale has been Chris Sale. Bryce Elder's made some great adjustments with a slider and changeup, and that's been enormous for him. And then the rest of the guys that we've seen, rookies like J.R. Ritchie, have stepped in and done a really nice job. So I think you have to credit the catchers for that. I think you have to credit Jeremy Hefner, the new pitching coach.
And those guys have been terrific. You're right, it's been a great formula, and I think their ability to do all those things is big, but I think their ability to come back late in games. They have a bunch of comeback wins this season, so whether they jump on a team early or whether they fall behind, I think they always feel like they're in a game.
Cubs have been able to turn that trick this year as well, so that'll make for, among other things, will make for an interesting three-game with the Cubs and the Braves.
Chapter 5: What can we expect from the crowd at Truist Park tonight?
Matt Olson, man. I mean, look, this has always been a really good players, but off to an excellent start with the 14 home runs. Anything different in his approach and why is he having the year that he's having?
I think his timing more than anything has been better. I think he's hitting the ball just as hard as he has been. I mean, you go back to 2023, he hit 54 home runs. But we're seeing the average a lot better right now. We're seeing a better time swing. He's made a few adjustments basically with the lower body with his swing. Everything else is still pretty much the same from the waist up.
A few minor adjustments with his front leg. But other than that, I think his timing has been terrific. And we're seeing a guy who at this point in his career is really starting to blossom into the best version of himself. We all knew that the power was there and the RBI ability was there. He led the league in doubles last year.
Chapter 6: How do the Braves plan to handle their pitching rotation?
But that average has been what's really impressive to me. His contact, and not just against righties, I think what he's done left on left has been really impressive to where the Braves, depending on their splits, righties versus lefties, You've got two left-handed hitters in there who are really good versus left-handed pitching in Drake Baldwin and Matt Olson.
Those guys bat in the top of the order. So Matt's off to an MVP kind of season. I mean, I'd think if you voted for a first-quarter MVP, he'd be in the top two or three for sure in the National League and definitely been the leader of this team offensively.
We are talking to Ben Ingram. He is the Braves radio play-by-play announcer on Rahimi Harrison-Grody. And Ben, I imagine this is going to be a pretty emotionally charged crowd tonight at Truist Park when you consider tribute to the late Bobby Cox and the late Ted Turner, who is the reason that I ended up watching Braves games growing up on TVS.
So what can you imagine it's going to be like at the ballpark tonight?
I think it'll be special. I really do. I mean, these are two cherished figures in this franchise. I think if you had, I hate the Mount Rushmore statement, but if you had that for the Braves, I mean, those two guys would, one of them would easily be on there in Bobby Cox and the other one would be a strong consideration.
The reason the Braves are what they are in terms of a national brand is because of the Superstation.
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Chapter 7: What role does Walt Weiss play in the Braves' success this year?
I think people in Chicago would understand that because of what the Cubs were on WGN for so long nationally. You had a national brand there. When we go out west, like I just said, we're in Seattle and Denver and Los Angeles, and especially in Denver, there are more Braves fans than Rocky fans. I've seen that in San Diego. I've seen that in Houston. And every time it's the same story.
We get to meet fans before or after a game, and they say, I'm a TBS kid. I follow the Braves on TBS. I watched all the guys back in the 80s and the 90s. That, to me, you're creating generation upon generation of fans for your team. So I think that made the Braves a national brand with Ted Turner able to put that out there. And then the winning coming along under Bobby Cox.
This is a team, this is a franchise that in the 70s and the 80s never won a single postseason game. And then Bobby Cox comes along, and he has these future Hall of Famers and Chipper Jones and Greg Maddox and Tom Glavin and John Smoltz and Andrew Jones, and they win 14 straight division titles.
So all that coming together at the same time, the winning ability by the team and then Ted's ability to blast it out there nationwide ā
Chapter 8: What makes Chris Sale a unique pitcher in today's game?
created multiple generations of Braves fans. So I think it'll be very special to think about them, their accomplishments, what they contributed for this organization and for this region of the country, I'd say on top of that. So I'm excited for that and I know it's going to be emotional.
Braves have done a good job, Ben, of taking advantage of some slow starts within the division, 10-3 against the NL East. This is their first game against the National League Central where everybody's above .500. I'm curious as if you have a team or two who you feel like could even come back and make a run at a team that's 15 games over .500 within your division.
The team that stands out to me is the Phillies because, I mean, that's still the team to beat in this division, if you ask me. They've won it the last two years. They've done it before. They have the offense to get as hot as anybody. They have the pitching to accompany that. It's a solid bullpen as well. And sometimes you just need a different voice.
And while Rob Thompson accomplished a lot of things in Philadelphia, maybe Don Mattingly gets the most out of this year's club. So that's the team to me in the rearview mirror that I'd keep the eye on more than anything.
I think what the Marlins and the Nationals have done is great, but I think when you get into July and August and September and injuries start to mount, I don't know that they have the depth to keep up. The Mets have absolutely buried themselves. I mean, that's the extraordinary thing. It's one thing to get off to a slow start, but the Mets, it's like they're still in the starting blocks.
And it just seems like, and we haven't seen them yet, but it just, from where I sit, it seems like a team that just doesn't have any kind of chemistry, no cohesion, and it just hasn't started at all for them. So I'd say the Phillies. The Phillies are the team to me that I think are a very complete team just because they've done it before. And you're right.
I think the Braves did a nice job head-to-head. I mean, that's another interesting thing. We saw the Phillies six times in the first month of the season, won five of six, and the Braves don't see the Phillies again until September. So they really cashed in on those games. especially knowing that we're not going to see those guys again until the very last month of the season.
So it's been a huge jump, but I think the Phillies answered the question of the team that I'd be most concerned about.
A pretty successful first year for Walt Weiss. What has he been like to deal with, and how has he, Walt Weiss, contributed to the Braves being as good as they are so far this year?
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