PHILADELPHIA -- Speaking prior to Saturday's game, Braves manager Brian Snitker couldn't emphasize enough the significance of losing veteran outfielder Nick Markakis to a fractured left wrist. At the same time, however, the skipper called it an "opportunity" for someone else.
Enter Adam Duvall.
Duvall, recalled earlier in the day to take Markakis' place on the active roster, went 3-for-5 with a homer in Atlanta's 15-7 victory at Citizens Bank Park. The Braves extended their lead in the National League East to 6 1/2 games over the Nationals and 7 1/2 over the third-place Phillies.
It's only one game, but Duvall looked far more like the player who led the International League with 29 home runs this season than the one who went 7-for-53 (.132) without a homer in 33 games down the stretch with Atlanta last season.
The 30-year-old outfielder insisted prior to the game that his swing was in a much better place than it was last year after making some mechanical changes at Triple-A Gwinnett.
"I feel good," Duvall said. "With those changes and the confidence that it brought, I feel pretty good with where I¡¯m at. I¡¯m just looking forward to getting some at-bats and putting up some numbers."
He did exactly that in his 2019 debut -- and he wasn't alone.
Ozzie Albies hit a grand slam, and Duvall's fellow outfielders -- Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ender Inciarte -- each added homers of their own. It was the first time that all three of Atlanta's starting outfielders homered in the same game since June 29, 2005 -- a day when Andruw Jones, Brian Jordan and Kelly Johnson all went deep.
"It's tough losing one of your leaders," Snitker said. "Everybody -- Ender gets a big hit, Duvall, everybody [contributed] -- so it was a good game to come out and score a lot of runs on the heels of what happened [to Markakis] last night."
Duvall has proven he can play at the big league level. He had back-to-back 30-homer seasons with the Reds in 2016 and '17. He averaged 32 homers and 101 RBIs in those two campaigns, while putting up a .788 OPS. Those numbers dropped off significantly last season, when Duvall hit just 15 homers and finished with a .639 OPS over 138 games, including zero home runs and a .344 OPS in 57 plate appearances with the Braves.
Things didn't go much better this spring. Duvall hit just .171 (7-for-41) before being optioned to Gwinnett to begin the season.
"When I sent him down out of Spring Training, he went down and worked hard," Snitker said. "He got his confidence and made some adjustments. He had a really good first four months of the season. I was really pulling for him tonight to make an impact and he did."
Getting consistent at-bats in the Minors, Duvall made some tweaks. He kept his swing flatter to maximize the amount of time his bat stayed in the zone. He made it a point to get the barrel to the ball more consistently. Most importantly, he focused on using a consistent swing every time he stepped to the plate so he could make adjustments on the fly if anything started to feel out of whack.
"It was good to be penciled in [the lineup] every day and to kind of get in that groove and get back to being myself," Duvall said. "That was exciting for me, just having the success that I had."
A hot start for Duvall would be vital to the Braves for multiple reasons. First, Atlanta still has four games remaining on its six-game NL East road trip against the Phillies and Nationals.
Second, and perhaps even more pressing, is the fact that Wednesday's Trade Deadline is looming. That would be Atlanta's last chance to acquire a potential replacement for Markakis from outside of the organization. Assuming that does not happen, it would be up to Duvall, Charlie Culberson, Matt Joyce or Austin Riley to pick up the slack alongside Acuna and Inciarte.
Saturday was only day one of an expected six-to-eight-week "opportunity" window, but Duvall did all he could to grasp it.
"It feels good to contribute and drive in runs," Duvall said. "That's what I want to do -- help drive in runs and help the team win, and I was able to do that tonight."