To some, the Atlanta Braves chances of reaching the National League Championship Series, much less the World Series, are somewhere south of zero. I beg to differ.
Okay, let’s get a couple brutal facts out of the way. First, of the 10 teams that have qualified for the postseason in 2021 the Braves (88-73) have the worst regular season record. Second, they clearly play in one of the two worst divisions in baseball. The Braves won the NL East with 88 wins, while Philadelphia was second with 82, followed by the Mets with 77. The Chicago White Sox won the AL Central with 93 wins, followed by Cleveland with 80 and Detroit with 77.
But what the Braves did over the last half of the season, no matter who they were playing, cannot be overlooked. On Monday, Aug. 2, which was an off day for Atlanta, the Braves stood at 52-55 on the year and had not won two consecutive games since Noah began building the Ark. The next day the Braves began what would become a three-game sweep of the homestanding St. Louis Cardinals and went on to go 36-18 over the last third of the season. That is an astounding .667 winning percentage. They have also won 12 of their last 15 games (including the make-up game loss to the Padres). It would be unfair to say they haven’t finished the season hot. Was the schedule the toughest? No. Did they do what they had to do? Yes.
The Brewers are favored heading into the best-of-five series with Atlanta that begins on Friday and rightfully so. The Milwaukee pitching staff is formidable to say the least and Josh Hader is nasty in relief. The Brewers can also score some runs. But, this series is not unwinnable for the Braves.
Let’s take a look at the Braves themselves. It is unlikely that the casual baseball fan, or even an avid fan who could care less about the Braves, really understands how much talent is on this team.
While offense is the name of the game for Atlanta, the team’s defense is solid, if not fantastic. The infield (from third to first) of Austin Riley, Dansby Swanson, Ozzie Albies, and Freddie Freeman are above average fielders at every position and in fact, gold glove contenders at three of those positions — third, second, and first.
The pitching has been much-maligned, but Charlie Morton and Max Fried are true aces at the top of the rotation and Ian Anderson, though inexperienced, is solid as the No 3 starter. The bullpen is effective for the most part with closer Will Smith being the wild card. The emphasis should be on the wild.
While he has recorded 37 saves this season, he can be a disaster in the late innings. Even his saves will give his team’s fans a heart attack.
Offensively is where Atlanta is elite, I would even dare say underrated.
Riley, a Mississippi native who is just 24, is a legitimate top 3 candidate for the National League MVP. He finished the regular season with a .303 batting average (sixth in the NL), 33 homers (10th in the league) and 107 RBIs, good for second in the league.
The RBI leaderboard tells a lot about the Braves. Adam Duvall, who plays some center field and right for Atlanta, led the league with 113, followed by Riley with 107 and Ozzie Albies with 106. Albies and Manny Machado of the San Diego Padres were tied for third. Half of the six NL players who drove in 100 or more runs this season were Atlanta Braves.
Albies season was phenomenal overall. He finished the season with 40 doubles, seven triples, 30 homers, and 106 RBIs. That feat made him just the 10th player in Major League History to have at least three seasons with at least 40 doubles, 20 homers and five triples. Who are the others? How about the likes of Stan Musial, Lou Gehrig, Rogers Horsnby, Hank Greenberg, Chuck Klein, Mookie Betts, Ted Williams and Al Simmons. If those names don’t mean anything to you it would be worth your time to look them up. You will be amazed. They are among the greatest of the greats.
And how about Freddie Freeman, the reigning NL MVP. After an absolutely horrendous start to this season he closed out the regular season with a .300 batting average, 31 homers, 83 RBIs and led the league with 120 runs scored. By the way, Albies was fourth in the league with runs scored at 103.
Freeman and Riley were second and third in hits, Albies third in doubles and triples and Duvall second in homers with 38. Freeman was third in on base percentage with a .393 mark, while Riley was eighth in slugging percentage and sixth in batting average. Albies’ 20 steals put him at sixth in the league, while Freeman was third in walks received.
Are the Braves the best team in the National League? Nope, they aren’t. Can they beat the Brewers? Yes. Can they reach the World Series? That’s a fair question. Honestly they can, but certainly need some help. Honestly, the can match-up with the Cardinals and even the Giants, but the Dodgers would be too big of a hill to climb. This column was written before the Cardinals and Dodgers played their Wildcard game on Wednesday, but I will say two days in advance of that match-up in unreadable ink that St. Louis has a good chance in that game with Adam Wainwright on the mound.
Even if Atlanta doesn’t advance past Milwaukee, it has been a good season for the Braves.
Here’s another couple facts about the Braves. First, the disappointing one. Since moving to Atlanta the Braves have won only one World Series title.
But here are a couple amazing ones. Atlanta’s 21 division titles are the most of any Major League Baseball franchise. And think about this, since the Braves have a 14-season division streak to their credit, as well as their current four-season streak, there have only been four times to date that the Braves have won the division one season and failed to win it the next. Think about that. Truly amazing.
Austin Bishop, AKA The Old Sports Dude, has been covering high school, college, amateur and professional sports since 1975. He is currently pastor of Great Commission Assembly of God in Philadelphia, Miss. He may be contacted by email at starsportsboss@yahoo.com.
