Mauricio Dubón: The Gift That Keeps on Giving

The Atlanta Braves clinched yet another series victory on Wednesday night with a chance to complete the sweep today against a Chicago Cubs club that entered Truist Park with the second-best record in baseball. And once again, they did it by flashing a level of depth no team in the league can match right now.

It started with rookie JR Ritchie. It wasn’t his sharpest outing, as he struggled at times with both his command and putting hitters away — a trend over his last three starts — but he still exited in the middle of the fifth inning with a 1-0 lead.

The Cubs tied the game shortly after, with the run charged to Ritchie, but Tyler Kinley limited the damage to just one. And while the game remained tied for several innings, it never really felt overly tense because the Braves bullpen continued carving through Chicago’s lineup one hitter after another.

Martin Perez — who has been an absolute godsend through the first month-and-a-half of the season — handled the sixth inning and retired the side in order on just 12 pitches.

Atlanta then turned the game over to its unhittable trio of Dylan Lee, Robert Suarez, and Raisel Iglesias in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings. The three combined for three scoreless frames while allowing just one hit.

Offensively, the big moments came from a couple of new faces in the bottom of the eighth. Mike Yastrzemski delivered for the second consecutive night, ripping a go-ahead double as a pinch-hitter. He was followed by Mauricio Dubón, whose two-run homer served as the dagger, securing another series win for Atlanta.

I wrote earlier this week about which Braves player deserves the next contract extension. Drake Baldwin is absolutely worthy of one, and it’ll come eventually. But Baldwin is already under team control for another five seasons. Dubón is headed for free agency after this year, and that feels like something the Braves should already be working to address.

Dubón checks every box you look for in winning baseball players. His defensive versatility has been invaluable for a team battling constant injuries. His clutch hitting has directly contributed to multiple wins. And he fits seamlessly into a clubhouse built around one thing — winning.

To think the Braves acquired him for Nick Allen. That’s some vintage Alex Anthopoulos wizardry.

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