The Braves were tied with the Mets for the third best record in the majors this year, but found themselves with the number two seed in the National League because they won the tiebreaker over the Mets. Mets are currently out of the playoffs after the San Diego Padres beat them in the Wild Card Series.
The Phillies however, is the team the Braves need to worry about at this point. The Phillies swept the St. Louis Cardinals two games to none at Busch Stadium during their Wild Card Series. The Phillies and Braves are both in the NL East and are very familiar with each other. The Braves won the season series over the Phillies this year 11 games out of 19, but the margin of runs the Braves scored over the Phillies was only three more runs than the team from the City of Brotherly Love.
Last year the Braves were the wild card team that got hot at the right time that carried over to the championship win. The team really needed a player to spark them and that’s what they got from Eddie Rosario in the NLDS and Jorge Soler in the World Series. This year with Ronald Acuna, Jr back from injury, Michael Harris II, and Matt Olson on team, they are a more powerful team that might not need that one player to give them that spark. But just because the Braves are a more powerful team doesn’t mean they will win. You go into each game, each series, one game at a time. Be focused on that team and not looking ahead.
As the Braves get ready to open the playoffs at a sold out Truist Park for the next two games. Here’s the starting lineup for today:
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