Mark Wiedmer
At 6:40 tonight, the New York Mets will face the National League East-leading Philadelphia Phillies in what promises to be anything but a relaxing road trip to the City of Brotherly Love.
Exactly 40 minutes later in the Big Peach, the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers _ who have already swept Atlanta in one series this year _ will begin a four-game series at Truist Park against the Atlanta Braves.
Depending on how those series play out, the Braves _ who are currently one game behind the Mets for the final NL wildcard spot _ may be anywhere from in the lead for that berth, or as many as 4.5 games behind the red-hot Mets.
And in case you didn’t know how close the Mets and Braves are to the regular-season finish line, only 15 games remain to be played by both New York and Atlanta after tonight.
Yes, EVERY GAME matters.
As Atlanta manager Briant Snitker said after Wednesday’s 4-1 loss arrived on the heels of Tuesday’s 14-0 win over Washington: “After last night (14-0 win), you hoped maybe that’s the start of something really good and we’d keep building on that. But we didn’t.”
They didn’t. And they haven’t really gone on a patented Braves run all year. Not that they should have been expected to with the M.A.S.H. unit they’ve put on the field all season due to injuries. Losing Ronald Acuna Jr. and Spencer Strider alone would have derailed most teams. But add Austin Riley and Ozzie Albies for large stretches of time, as well as catcher Sean Murphy and any team might have justifiably collapsed.
And now, just when the Braves need some semblance of a roster that could at least threaten to win a playoff series, Reynaldo Lopez _ who leads the NL in ERA (2.06) is on the injured list until at least September 26, which, coincidentally, is the final game of a three-game series at home against the Mets.. The regular season ends three days later at home on Sept. 29 against Kansas City.
On the face of that schedule, the Braves would appear to have a huge edge going forward against the Mets. According to an article in the New York Post today, the Mets have the toughest remaining schedule in baseball, their remaining games against teams who have a combined winning percentage of .557. By contrast, the Braves’ remaining schedule is rated but the 12th toughest in the majors.
And the Braves have certainly performed better than expected. As one anonymous MLB scout told the Post: “I think both of these teams have defied the odds to get here. The Mets were dead a few times this season and Atlanta keeps bringing in guys off the street and getting something out of them.”
But that same scout said this about the Mets, who have the best record in baseball since May 3o: “They have guys who have been here before. I think there’s a belief on that team that they belong in the postseason and that can help this time of year.”
The Braves have been in the postseason the last six years. They won it all in 2021. Before the season, they seemed to have a team capable of winning it all again if they could solve the Phillies, who’ve knocked them out of the playoffs the last two postseasons.
Yet time is running short, only 12 games will remain once the Dodgers leave town, and three of those will come against the Mets on the last week of the regular season.
Framing this weekend and beyond earlier this week, Snitker said, “We have to be better. It’s kind of been up and down and good and bad and the whole thing for a while now. You can’t win 3-1 all the time. We have to consistently (score) more runs.”
But can any team as beaten and battered as the Braves reverse a 146-game body work in its final 16 opportunities? Braves Country should know a lot more by the time the Dodgers leave Atlanta on Monday.