Drayage Brokersin Atlanta, GA

SEATTLE -- When Austin Riley was slumping over April’s final weeks last season, it was playfully suggested that a big country boy like him didn’t need to be eating avocado toast, his breakfast choice at a San Diego restaurant last year.

Riley started rolling as May progressed. So, as the third baseman exited T-Mobile Park on Tuesday night, he playfully asked if it was time to start eating avocado toast again.

Riley didn’t feel convicted enough to go back to the toast, but he still started to distance himself from some bad luck as he tallied a pair of hits, including a two-run triple, in a 5-2 win over the Mariners on Wednesday afternoon. The victory backed Chris Sale’s five solid innings and allowed the Braves to avoid a three-game sweep.

“He’s been swinging the bat probably as well as anybody, but had nothing to show for it,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.

Riley fueled a four-run fourth inning with an opposite-field triple that eluded Seattle right fielder Mitch Haniger as he slammed into the right-field wall. His line-drive single in the third was just out of shortstop Dylan Moore’s reach. It helped move Ronald Acuña Jr. in position to score when Marcell Ozuna drew a bases-loaded walk off Emerson Hancock.

“That first one, I was praying Moore wasn’t going to snag it, and the same with the one at the wall in right field,” Riley said. “Both of them fell, and I was able to get some steaks with it.”

This was just Riley’s second multi-hit game since April 11. He entered this series finale hitting .226 with two home runs, a .664 OPS and some expected statistics that indicated he was on the verge of turning things around.

“There’s only so long you can do the right things and not get rewarded,” Sale said.

This still wasn’t close to the actual .525 slugging percentage he compiled over his past three seasons, each of which consisted of 30-plus home runs. Riley exited April with a .365 slugging percentage, but his expected slugging percentage -- which is based on exit velocity and launch angle -- was .443.

This was one of the numbers that indicated Riley was hindered by some bad luck over the past month. His third-inning single came off his bat at 108.9 mph, and his triple had an exit velocity of 102.7. Both were barrels, which are batted-ball events whose comparable hit types (in terms of exit velocity and launch angle) have led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage since Statcast was implemented Major League-wide in 2015.

Riley entered Wednesday hitting just .364 (4-for-11) with a 1.091 slugging percentage on balls he barreled this year. This simply means he was due to begin benefiting from the law of averages.

“I’m a big believer in control what you can control and once the ball leaves the bat, there’s nothing you can do,” Riley said.

Riley, Acuña and Matt Olson all finished among the top seven in National League MVP balloting last year. The Braves own MLB’s top winning percentage (.690) despite the fact that each of these prime producers has experienced a slow start.

Acuña's strikeout rate rose to 27.9 percent after he struck out three more times on Wednesday. The reigning NL MVP incredibly struck out just 11.4 percent of the time while hitting 41 homers. He has homered just once while tallying a .690 OPS this year.

But he aided Wednesday’s win with a couple of singles, including one ahead of Riley’s triple and Olson’s single in the fourth.

Acuña entered Wednesday with a .245 batting average and .253 expected batting average (xBA). He also had a .318 slugging percentage and a .372 expected slugging percentage (xSLG).

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Olson’s numbers suggest his lack of early production has been even more deceiving. Olson came into the series finale hitting .202 with a .252 xBA. He was slugging .385 with a .478 xSLG. In other words, the tide might also start turning for him, too.

“A lot of guys have been picking us up over the last month,” Riley said. “To finally get together and have a really good inning like that, that’s encouraging. If we can get going and the guys are doing their thing, I like where we will be.”

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Mark Bowman has covered the Braves for MLB.com since 2001.

Spring is a busy opening season in Atlanta. Here’s the latest on what’s new.

Week of May 1

Rreal Tacos opens seventh location in Buckhead

Crowd favorite Rreal Tacos opened another location in Buckhead on May 1, just in time for Cinco de Mayo. They will occupy the former Farm Burger in Tower Place. This will be the restaurant’s seventh location, and are already found in Midtown, West Midtown, Chamblee, Sandy Springs, Cumming and Sugar Hill.

April

Vegan pizzeria Pizza Verdura Sincera opens in former Zesto space

The former Zesto spot in Little Five Points finally has a new resident. Pizza Verdura Sincera is officially open, two years after the announcement of its takeover. Owners David Smith and Paul Jones opened the doors on April 27. Expect vegan pies with toppings like vegan pepperoni and seasonal veggies like squash, zucchini, and sweet onions.

Team behind El Valle and Oaxaca opens Casa Balam in Decatur

Casa Balam is the newest Mexican restaurant in downtown Decatur, where the former Ted’s Montana Grill used to be. It opened on April 23 and comes from the same group behind popular Mexican fine dining joints, El Valle in Midtown and Oaxaca in Chamblee. Chef and co-owner Luis Damian has created a menu of traditional and modern Mexican fare, including tacos, empanadas, and family-style meat options of duck confit, beef birria, and Chilean sea bass.

Auburn Angel opens in historic Auburn Avenue

The new restaurant has opened in the Auburn Avenue Rib Shack space. Led by proprietor Asa Fain, executive chef Robbie Pacheco, and accompanied by pastry chef Pamela Moxley, Auburn Angel opened on April 19. Expect indoor and alfresco dining, with dishes like grilled octopus, striped bass on spring peas and pickled enoki mushrooms, and rhubarb almond tart.

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Decatur’s newest wine shop, Vine Fine Wine, is now open

Owners Sam Pilch and Madeline Long celebrated a ribbon-cutting and grand opening of their wine shop in downtown Decatur on April 19. The shop focuses on minimal intervention wines from smaller producers around the world. Look for organic and biodynamic wines and plenty of wine books at this neighborhood shop.

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Since Sundance said in April it is exploring options for a new festival location, cities across the U.S. have announced their intentions to bid for one of the most prestigious events showcasing independent film.

Atlanta, San Francisco and Minneapolis are the larger cities rumored to have submitted bids before the May 1 deadline, according to multiple media reports. Smaller cities interested include Sante Fe, N.M., Savannah, Ga, and Buffalo, N.Y.

Park City Mayor Nann Worel said Thursday Sundance should remain in Utah.

"We have an experienced, innovative, and unified team in place to ensure this happens," Worel said. "Park City is not alone in this process. Our regional partnerships are strong, and we are committed to a renewed, forward-looking effort to re-imagine the Festival together. In the end, we believe our 40 years of experience and strong partnerships will be key to our success and we thank the Sundance Institute for this opportunity.

Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said the bid process offers the chance to build a “more accessible, inspiring and uplifting Sundance Film Festival.”

"As the hub for arts, culture, and entertainment in Utah, Salt Lake City looks forward to working with the Sundance Institute and neighboring partners to champion independent filmmaking, creativity, and storytelling," Mendenhall said.

Sundance offered three screening venues in the Salt Lake valley during the 2024 festival, compared to seven in Park City.

Utah Film Commission Executive Director Virginia Pearce told KPCW she thinks Salt Lake City has the capacity to host more screenings.

The event has roots in Utah dating back to 1978.

Sundance’s contract with Park City expires after the 2026 festival.

Next in the bid process, Sundance will invite cities it considers viable to submit a request for proposal, or RFP. That’s where the potential locations will share specifics on how they will host a successful festival.

Sundance officials are interested in logistics like venue space and airport proximity.

Cities’ festival plans must be submitted by June 21.

Sundance said it will decide on a festival location for 2027 and beyond by the end of 2024 or early 2025.

Atlanta is essentially valuing a succession plan above any single player they could select at No. 8 overall. That’s certainly unusual, but it’s not crazy.

• The Green Bay Packers have found success with a similar strategy: Twice in a row, the Packers have selected their future quarterback in the first round years before they needed to deploy him on the field and watched him have instant success when they finally made the transition.

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The Atlanta Falcons made one of the most shocking draft picks in NFL history when they selected Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. at No. 8 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft after signing Kirk Cousins to a $180-million contract just weeks before.

The move is unprecedented when you consider all of the various elements at play.

The decision was roundly criticized, with even smart NFL evaluators failing to see logic in the approach, and it led to the Falcons receiving the lowest draft grades by most analysts.

I’m not here to defend the move, as such, but rather to say that, at the very least, it isn’t stupid or incoherent. The strategy deployed by the team is very real and not inconsistent with other moves they have made.

Did they reach?

One issue people had is that Michael Penix Jr. was ranked 31st on the consensus big board as the fifth-best quarterback. Atlanta selected him as the fourth quarterback off the board and 23 places higher than his big board rank.

Generally, there is not a good history of teams going rogue versus the consensus board, and “reaches” typically underperform relative to players selected in the same range as their rank on the consensus board.

This was not a typical draft, however, and the Falcons clearly had Penix ranked higher than most other players. The important part, though, is that they don’t appear to have been alone in that regard. Multiple other teams have been reported to be very high on Penix, and so it looks as though there was at least a group of NFL evaluators who believe Penix is a better prospect than the consensus board does. This was not just the Falcons operating in isolation.

Even the draft narrative on his stock had him ranked around that area before the national championship game. The talk after Penix defeated Texas in the College Football Playoff was that he was now a mid-first-round prospect who could push himself into the top 10 by April. Then, Michigan steamrolled Washington and, in the course of four hours, his stock fell an entire round in the public sphere. Maybe the NFL simply never made that same adjustment based on one game against a better opponent.

The Succession Plan

We are also mere months removed from lauding the Green Bay Packers for having cracked the code to quarterback development. Twice in a row, the Packers have selected their future quarterback in the first round years before they needed to deploy him on the field and watched him have instant success when they finally made the transition.

Aaron Rodgers was drafted in 2005 and didn’t get the job until the 2008 season, while Jordan Love had to wait the same three years on the sideline before being tossed the keys to the franchise.

Other quarterbacks have been drafted with significant picks despite entrenched starters in the past. After Troy Aikman’s rookie season, Dallas spent a first-round supplemental draft pick on Steve Walsh mere months later, using a pick that would go on to become the No. 1 overall selection in the following draft due to a 1-15 record the Cowboys compiled.

Denver drafted Tommy Maddox in the first round in 1992 despite John Elway still being in the middle of his career.

When starters have been on borrowed time, the approach has been even more common. Patrick Mahomes was selected — even traded up for — with Alex Smith entrenched as the team’s starter.

Kirk Cousins is 35 years old coming off an Achilles injury, so planning for his eventual successor makes perfect sense. With the Falcons potentially going to be hit with a tampering penalty that could remove critical draft picks, as well as Cousins likely good enough to drag their future picks down the draft, this may be a year earlier than most teams would do it, but it wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

The Opportunity Cost

The thing that really makes this move unprecedented is that it was the No. 8 overall pick used to make it happen.

Rodgers, Love and Maddox were all selected in the 20s, and while the pick that was used to select Walsh ended up far higher than that, Dallas didn’t know that at the time.

What the Falcons have done here is essentially value a succession plan above any single player they could select at No. 8 overall. That’s certainly unusual, but it’s not crazy.

The team is already well stocked on offense, where you would typically expect resources to be spent to maximize the chances Cousins can succeed. The Falcons were expected to make the first defensive selection in the draft, and individual defensive players can certainly make an impact, but they tend not to be transformative.

Nailing a succession plan at quarterback can be transformative, for over a decade.

If the Falcons believe that there is virtue to a quarterback learning and developing from the sideline, then they view this as simply maximizing the chances their next quarterback hits the ground running — at the cost of one defender right now and around half of his rookie contract surplus value.

It certainly detracts from their ability to have success in 2024, but it’s not an incoherent strategy to attempt to prioritize long-term success as well as winning the following season. The Kansas City Chiefs traded away wide receiver Tyreek Hill not because they think it maximized their chances of winning the following season but because it was in the long-term best interest of the team without completely undermining their chances in the short term.

Cousins is a quarterback good enough for the Falcons to immediately contend for the division and make noise in the postseason, while Penix is the quarterback the team believes is the one who can win for the next 10 years after Cousins.

The fact that he will be 24 years old this season shouldn’t change the evaluation much. The entire theory rests on the idea that there is growth to be done from the sideline in the NFL, and so the relevant information is where they believe his ceiling is in absolute terms, not simply for his age. If Cousins plays two more years before they look to get out of his deal, Penix will start at 26, which could give him a decade or more.

The Bottom Line

Whatever else it is, the Falcons' move to select Michael Penix Jr. mere weeks after securing Kirk Cousins in free agency is one of the most radical picks in NFL draft history. It is one of the biggest stories in years and, with no possibility of ever seeing the counterfactual play out, is one that we can never know for sure was the right call.

If Penix becomes a high-level starter, the Falcons will feel they did the right thing. But without knowing how the alternative player they would have selected could impact the team, it’s still guesswork.

And that is why we all love the NFL draft.

In a captivating fusion of football fervor and global connectivity, Alexandros, or as he’s known in the Atlanta Falcons’ community as Alesantoz, stands as a testament to the seemingly boundless reach of sports fandom. Hailing from Berlin, Germany, this devoted Falcons’ international ambassador earned the prestigious title of 2024 Atlanta Falcons International Fan of the Year.

His dedication transcends a continental divide, culminating in a momentous highlight: stepping onto the stage in Detroit during the 2024 NFL Draft to announce the Falcons 109th overall selection of defensive end Brandon Dorlus. As the spotlight shone upon him, Alesantoz embodied the growth of the game and the spirit that unites fans worldwide under the banner of their beloved team. His journey reflects the power of passion over obstacles like distance.

Now that he’s back in Germany, Alesantoz graciously took some time to speak with me and share his experience in Detroit and becoming the Falcons International Fan of the Year for 2024.

“I honestly can’t say exactly how the decision process came about, Alesantoz said. “I was just told about the International Fan of the Year in November on X via a link and told that I should apply. Then nothing happened for a long time and I actually kind of forgotten about it. In February though, the Falcons surprised me in Berlin with a video message from Greg Beadles and the award. What an awesome surprise!”

Being an NFL fan in a different country presents a unique blend of challenges and rewards. From navigating time zone differences to bridging cultural gaps, international fans like Alesantoz have to work to keep up with their teams. Despite the distance, the shared passion for football fosters a sense of belonging and community that transcends borders.

“I first came into contact with American football in the mid-90s in TV through my best buddy,” he said. “The Falcons stood out with their classic logo design, the colors and finally with Jamal Anderson and his famous Dirty Bird Dance. That’s how it happened for me. That easy!”

In 2023, the NFL announced the expansion of the Global Markets Program, which they believe will allow NFL teams to grow their fanbase internationally. The Falcons were awarded Germany as a market, but Alesantoz has helped grow the Falcons fandom in Germany before that.

“Falcons in Germany came together loosely in a private Facebook group back in 2013 and spoke to the Falcons sporadically,” he said. “I joined by chance in 2017 and was able to take over the administration together with others in 2019. My commitment was unleashed and so I started to create my own Falcons Germany website, install Twitter (now X) and Instagram and create content and blog articles for everything around the Falcons.

Then I started to start small pre-shows and debriefings via live videos within Facebook before and after the Falcons games and let the community participate in discussions and exchange opinions. After I filmed an episode of “Fascination Atlanta Falcons” on YouTube during Corona with a current RTL presenter friend, I also had to have a YouTube channel to reach more people and bring together more Falcons from German-speaking countries.

We now have TalkUP!, our weekly live stream/podcast. In total, we now have between 500 and 2000 (depending on the platform) Falcons enthusiasts who exchange ideas and organize watch parties or travel to Falcons events all over the country.”

As mentioned above, Alesantoz had the once in a lifetime opportunity to announce a Falcons draft pick live on stage in front of the world.

“My first draft ever and that alone was gigantic,” he said “Detroit put on an impeccable and perfectly organized mega show and mega event. Then to be there as the International Fan of the Year topped it all again. Many people congratulated me and patted me on the back. Overall, the atmosphere was very familiar and euphoric. That’s what I love about the sports enthusiasm here in the States.

The announcement of the picks was another quantum leap of emotion. The tension was absolutely high backstage with increasing nervousness, but when they counted down from 5 and I was finally allowed to go outside, I was euphoric. It was great fun and I was so pumped for at least another two hours afterwards, I could have announced 100 more picks!”

With Alesantoz understandably busy at the draft, and the fact that he literally announced a pick, I had to get his opinion of the Falcons’ 2024 draft class.

“All in all, I’m satisfied,” he said. “Even though we provided the shocker of the draft with the selection of Michael Penix Jr., I can live with the fact that we already have such a talented player for the time after Kirk Cousins and can build him up. I’m sure we all still have the time after Matt Ryan or Michael Vick in mind. Overall, I also think the emphasis on the front seven is very good. If only the secondary room could have been addressed, but then there was probably no one the front office had a crush on.”

Although the Falcons have played in London a few times, they have yet to play in Germany. I feel that’s likely more of a “when” than an “if” but best believe that when they do, Alesantoz will have the dirty birds in Germany ready to cheer them on.

“It would be overwhelming to see my team play in my country. Especially now that they’ve received the global marketing rights for Germany,” he said. “The community would also be totally over the moon and we would celebrate it to the max. I also know that a lot of people from Atlanta would love to make an extra trip out of town. Since last year, my wish to bring the two fan camps closer together has been fulfilled bit by bit. More and more people now know about our Fanbase in Germany, which makes it easier for us to make contact. You could really feel that in London for the Falcons game. That was fantastic.”

Alesantoz’ tireless efforts to cultivate a thriving Falcons community in Germany exemplify the transformative impact of sports on a global scale. As we look ahead to the future, buoyed by the NFL’s expanding presence in international markets, there’s no doubt that Alesantoz and fellow Falcons enthusiasts in Germany stand ready to welcome their beloved dirty birds with open arms on German soil. As Alesantoz put it, “we’re ready to celebrate it to the max.”

Be sure to give Atlanta Falcons Germany a follow on both X and Instagram!

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