The Daily Chop: Season Ends with a win, Davidson returns to the mound, Plus More

Jorge Soler decided that the Braves should end the season with fireworks on Sunday. His contribution was one of the hardest hit balls in the Statcast era by a Braves player, and set the tone for an end of the season victory for the Braves.

Charlie Morton looked great, as did the rest of the Braves bullpen for the most part. Sure, the game had no impact on a division race that had already been locked up for days. But the fact remains that the Braves were able to give their main contributors one last tune up before the postseason starts on Friday.

Thankfully, there is a good bit of rest awaiting Atlanta, whose starters as a whole have played more collectively than anyone in the majors. Though several players have had career years, a big reason the Braves won the division once again, the rest should allow for Atlanta to maintain its health and ensure the Braves can perform at their best this upcoming weekend.

Braves Notes

• Game 161 officially ended the season for the Braves, who did not need the extra makeup game against the Rockies to happen. Spencer Strider and the rest of the Braves relievers looked good to great in their efforts on Sunday.
• Another positive development for the Braves on Sunday was pitching prospect Tucker Davidson making his return to the mound for Gwinnett:

Davidson missed over three months after suffering an arm injury in June. Fortunately, it seems no issues were long-term and Davidson will enter the offseason healthy. He went three innings and allowed one run with five strikeouts.

• Though he was removed from the game early on Sunday, there is no concern that Freddie Freeman is ready to go for the playoffs. He certainly finished the season strong and seems to be ready to deliver in October.
• The MLB postseason schedule is now set, and the Braves’ journey begins Friday in Milwaukee. Atlanta will turn right around for Game 2 on Saturday with Charlie Morton and Max Fried taking the mound for Game 1 and Game 2, respectively.
• The end of the season means a double dose of the Talking Chop Podcast. In Part 1, Brad, Scott, and Eric look back on the Braves’ crazy season. In Part 2, they look ahead to the playoffs, how the postseason roster might look, and what awaits Atlanta in their playoff opponents from Milwaukee.

MLB NEWS

• The final day of the regular season certainly started with plenty of intrigue. However, no game 163s would result from what turned out to be a quiet day.
• The Red Sox will host the AL Wild Card game against the Yankees thanks to a ninth-inning home run from Rafael Devers that earned the victory.
• The Yankees needed their own brand of heroics as they did not score the first run in their game versus the Rays until the ninth inning, but it was the only run in the game and earned New York a wild card birth as well.
• The Giants earned win number 107 on the season on Sunday, the most in the history of their franchise. And every win was needed to hold off the 106-win Dodgers. As a result, the Giants will host of the winner of the Cardinals-Dodgers NL Wild Card game in the NLDS.
• A big development for the Dodgers is that they may be without Max Muncy, at least for the NL Wild Card game. Muncy was injured trying to catch a ball at first base on Sunday.
• MLB.com has everyone prepared for the 2021 MLB playoffs, from ranking the teams overall, the pitching staffs, and the top 50 players. Make sure to check out all the great information before the festivities begin Sunday.