It may not be true, but listening to Alex Anthopoulos talk following the trade deadline, it sure felt like he didn’t think there was much of a chance the Braves missed out on the playoffs completely. Why else wouldn’t he have been a little more aggressive instead of waiting and hoping for guys like Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies to return from their respective injuries?
The reality is the Braves are in some trouble, especially while those two remain on the pine. Following this weekend’s series against the Marlins, Atlanta is six games back of the Phillies in the NL East. That isn’t an impossible deficit to overcome, but they are running out of time.
What’s even more worrisome is the NL Wild Card race is becoming more jam-packed by the day. The teams behind the Braves didn’t sit on their hands at the trade deadline, and they are reaping the benefits to this point.
NL Wild Card Standings
- Braves (60-51)
- Padres (61-52)
- Diamondbacks (60-52)
- Mets (58-53)
- Cardinals (57-55)
- Pirates (56-55)
- Giants (56-57)
- Cubs (55-59)
- Reds (53-58)
—
As of Monday, the Braves still sit in the top spot in the NL Wild Card standings, but they are tied with the Padres and only 0.5 games ahead of the Diamondbacks. Three teams in each league will make it as wild cards, so the club to watch out for right now is none other than the division rival Mets, who haven’t played their best ball lately but have been a far superior team to Atlanta over the last several months.
Behind New York sit the Cardinals and Pirates, followed by the Giants, Cubs, and Reds. They are all within an arm’s length of the Braves, and it only takes one of them getting hot to really throw a wrench in Atlanta’s playoff hopes.
To a degree, I understand why Alex Anthopoulos decided to play it safer at this year’s trade deadline than he has in previous years. The prices for quality players were astronomically high, and spending a lot of prospect capital in an attempt to win this season with so many injured players probably isn’t a wise decision. It’s a difficult job trying to balance winning now with the future of the organization. Plus, the Braves weren’t going to acquire anything more helpful than getting Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies back into the lineup.
On the flip side, the Braves have to get to that point. Harris won’t be back for at least two more weeks, and Albies won’t return until early September in a best case scenario. Until then, Atlanta is relying on guys like Jarred Kelenic, Adam Duvall, Whit Merrifield, and Eddie Rosario to play every day, which has already cost the Braves a lot of wins.
With no teams clearly separating themselves from the pack this year, the Braves have as good of a chance as anyone to win the World Series if they can get healthy and into the dance. However, they have to get there first, and that’s far from a guarantee with the lineup they’re trotting out every day.
—
Photo: Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire
You must log in to post a comment.