Braves Briefing: Will Smith, former Atlanta closer, is one of three former Braves in the World Series

Former Atlanta Braves closer and current Texas Rangers reliever Will Smith is apparently a good luck charm when it comes to postseason success: He's on his third consecutive World Series roster, with three different organizations, looking for his third consecutive World Series ring. 

Going a perfect 6-6 on save opportunities en route to the 2021 World Series championship with Atlanta, Smith was later traded to Houston at the 2022 trade deadline for starter Jake Odorizzi. He was on the postseason roster but didn't pitch for Houston as they won the 2022 World Series over Philadelphia. Signing as a free agent with the Texas Rangers, he got into World Series game one's ninth inning, retiring both batters he faced to send the game to extra innings, where Texas eventually walked it off thanks to an Adolis Garcia homer.  

Robbie Grossman originally played for Atlanta for only a few months, being traded there from Detroit at last year's trade deadline. He's spent all season with the Rangers after signing there as a free agent last offseason, rotating into the outfield and designated hitter spots, but he's lost playing time this postseason to prospect Evan Carter. Logging a pinch-hit appearance in Saturday night's game two, he struck out in the 9th inning of Arizona's 9-1 victory.    

Jace Peterson, the longest tenured former Brave with a three year-stint in Atlanta from 2015-2017, was a late season trade acquisition by Arizona from the Oakland A's. He rotated in at all three non-shortstop infield spots down the stretch and after initially being left off the postseason roster, was added for the World Series in place of reliever Slade Cecconi. 

World Series Schedule

The 2023 World Series is tied at one game each as the series shifts to Arizona on Monday for three games.  

Game One: Texas 6, Arizona 5 (11)
Game Two: Arizona 9, Texas 1
Game Three: Monday 10/30, Texas @ Arizona - 8:03 pm ET on Fox
Game Four: Tuesday 10/31, Texas @ Arizona - 8:03 pm ET on Fox
Game Five: Wednesday 11/1, Texas @ Arizona - 8:03 pm ET on Fox
Game Six*: Friday 11/3, Arizona @ Texas - 8:03 pm ET on Fox
Game Seven*: Saturday 11/4, Arizona @ Texas - 8:03 pm ET on Fox

We Wrote It

Braves Today writer (and Locked On Braves host) Jake Mastroianni wrote about the two completely different halves to the season for catcher Sean Murphy, asking which was the "true" Murphy? 

Before the All-Star break, he played in 66 games and slashed .306/.400/.599 with 17 doubles and 17 home runs. Not only was it looking like he was becoming the best catcher in the game, many had him on a short-list for NL MVP candidates.
But he fell off a cliff hard in the second half, slashing .159/.310/.275 with just 4 home runs in 40 games.
One thing you'll notice is he played far fewer games in the second half. After playing 60 of 89 games before the All-Star break, he played just 40 of 73 after. 

Check out the whole piece below:

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