I would be lying to you if I said I was happy with how the regular season ended today for the NL East Champions Atlanta Braves. But I am not happy at all. Yes, the team did improve on the wins this year from last year. The Braves won seven more games and ended with a regular season record in 2019 of 97-65. But after winning the NL East crown at home on Friday, September 20th against the San Francisco Giants 6-0, the Braves faultered down the stretch and went 3-5 by taking two out of three from the Giants, splitting the two-game series at Kansas City Royals, and getting swept at Citi Field by the New York Metropolitans.
Getting swept by their Mets bothered me the most because the Braves had a shot to win 100 games and they didn’t. I know what manager Brian Snitker was thinking by resting players and getting a look at other different players to see if they were going to be on the post season roster. But I think that is going to end up hurting this team more than help this team. My reasoning is they are backing their way into the playoffs on a bad note. Out of 19 trips to the postseason in the Atlanta Braves era, the teams have been giants in the regular season, lose momentum in the playoffs and then faulter in the playoffs. Only one year did they go all the way and hold up the World Series Championship in 1995 against the Cleveland Indians.
Out of the three divisional winners this year, the Dodgers ended the season winning seven straight, The Cardinals won today, and the Braves lost three in a row. The hottest team going in to the playoffs is one of the Wild Card teams, the Washington Nationals. The Nationals finished the season on an eight game win streak. Not because the Nationals have won eight straight, but the Nationals have been the hottest team over the course of the month of September. The Braves seemed to have just held serve.
The Braves have some injuries to deal with as well. Outfielder Ronald Acuna, Jr. was sat for five games while feeling tightness in his groin during the first game of the Royals series. Rust is going to be a factor and I’m worried he will lose a step in the playoffs and will not be 100%. The face of the Braves, 1B Freddie Freeman has bone spurs in his elbow, and the elbow is very sore. He is not at 100% either and might be slow during postseason play.
With all this being said, it doesn’t outweigh the great season this team has had this year. Many baseball writers said the Braves would take a step back, and no writer punched a ticket for the Braves to win the NL East again.
Looking at the play of the regular season makes me believe this team has a chance. Looking at past history and the play of the Braves down the stretch makes cause for concern.
Time will only tell how the last chapter of the 2019 Atlanta Braves book is written. The final chapter begins this Thursday, October 3 at SunTrust Park as the Braves host the NL Central Champions St. Louis Cardinals. Time to be determined.
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