The Braves are in a great spot. With just ten games to go, they have a 6 game lead over the Phillies in the NL East. Go ahead and cue up the Super Bowl jokes about Atlanta sports team’s tendencies to choke, but the Braves are a near mathematical lock to secure the NL East.
However, with seven of the Braves last ten games being head to head against the Phillies, anything is possible. Now, the Phillies have been really bad lately. They’ve lost seven of their last ten games, and quite frankly regression hit them pretty hard in the season’s second half. Like the Braves, they are ahead of schedule. Their rebuild is going well, and they expect to be huge players in the free agency market this winter.
This season though, the NL East belongs to the Atlanta Braves, and if they can put their foot on the gas this weekend in their last home series, it will essentially lock up their playoff birth. Heck, even if they split the series they will be in a great spot.
If the Braves do not make the playoffs, it would take the ultimate choke that would prove they were not a playoff worthy team in the first place. Expect them to avoid catastrophe and head into the postseason with high expectations in a wide-open National League playoff field.