One of Braves Country’s fondest memories from last year’s World Series run is Eddie Rosario‘s heroic performance in the NLCS against the Dodgers, which helped Atlanta finally beat their dreaded west coast foes and advance to the World Series for the first time since 1995. It also was a catalyst for Alex Anthopoulos re-signing Steady Eddie to a two-year, $18 million contract this offseason. However, for much of the season, Rosario hasn’t come anywhere close to expectations.
To begin the year, Eddie Rosario was one of, if not the worst hitter in all of baseball, recording an unsightly .068 batting average through the first 15 games. It was apparent something was wrong, and just three weeks into the season, Rosario underwent laser eye surgery, costing him the next couple of months. However, even when he returned, he was still underperforming. In his first 44 games back from the IL stint, he hit just .227 with four home runs.
Fast forward to the present, and Rosario is back to playing like he was in last year’s postseason. In his last 13 games, he’s hit .359 with a .903 OPS. It’s obviously not the splits he had against the Dodgers in the NLCS, but I’m not sure there will be many more of those performances in October, regardless of who is hitting.
If the Braves want to make another playoff run, they’ll need Rosario and the rest of the lineup to wake up. Hopefully, Monday’s game was a sign of things to come. Atlanta put up eight runs, including three home runs from Matt Olson, Marcell Ozuna, and Orlando Arcia. If those guys can get going along with Eddie Rosario, the Braves offense is going to be difficult to slow down come October.
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Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
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