Atlanta Braves May Schedule Suddenly Looking Opportunistic

Just a couple of weeks ago, the Braves’ May slate looked like a gauntlet that could take this young season down quickly. But now…

The Atlanta Braves have been clearly having trouble getting traction early on here in 2017. A poor start was followed by a good start at home, but then followed by another losing streak.

But now as we finish up April, there’s some hope ahead.

Atlanta took advantage of a bruised and sloppy Mets teams that is suddenly reeling themselves, and parlayed that opportunity into two victories in front of the New York fans while relegating their team to last place.

Now the Braves have a chance to extend this into another positive streak… with the schedule turning sharply into their favor.

What Changed?

What has changed is the direction and fortunes of multiple teams coming up. That actually starts with the Milwaukee Brewers, this weekend’s opponent, but that is a team doing a lot better than many expected. We’ll get to that in a minute.

The upcoming schedule:

More from Tomahawk Take

Milwaukee
The Mets again
St. Louis
Houston
Miami
Toronto
Washington
Pittsburgh
San Francisco
LA Angels
(Reds, Phillies, and Mets open June)

On this list are at least 4 – perhaps 5 – teams that expected a lot of themselves in 2017. In the past couple of weeks, though, even their best fans are ready to cut their losses and prepare for 2018.

METS. I had concerns about this team going into the season. The telling line was this one from last December: “Of all teams in the NL East, if there’s any that looks like a train wreck waiting to happen, it’s the Mets.”

So now their DL list is growing almost literally daily, and will claim Yoenis Cespedes shortly. Their vaunted pitching is now hanging by a tendon. Their defense is… sketchy. David Wright was placed on the 60-day DL.

The Braves will see them again for 4 games – at home – to open the month.

CARDINALS. Would you have guessed that this team is 28th in the majors in fWAR? 22nd in offense? 17th in pitching? -10 Run Differential?

That puts them in a virtual dead heat with the Braves in those categories (17th, 21st, 21st, -12 RD), which was certainly not expected going into the year.

The 10-11 Cardinals are coming into Atlanta, and this matchup – despite them winning 7 of their last 10 – is now looking a lot better now than we might have forecast at the end of March.

BLUE JAYS. This is still a dangerous team, but they are a major-league worst 6-16 and could be without all-world third baseman Josh Donaldson through this mid-May series.
PIRATES. This will not be the same club that swept the Braves in Pittsburgh. Starling Marte is now gone. The Pirates are in last place (9-12) and not much has gone right since the Braves’ series. Atlanta will have a chance to reverse that prior outcome at SunTrust Park.
GIANTS. Another last place team, this one at 8-15. Without Madison Bumgarner, the Giants are seriously sliding. They still have Johnny Cueto, but their offense is 27th in the majors

Odd Road Trips

The first of these goes from Atlanta to Houston – with off-days on both sides of the 2-game Houston ‘series’ – then 20 straight games beginning in Miami and Toronto before returning to Atlanta.

The second road trip continues that 20-game streak with trips to San Francisco and Anaheim. Finally, a day off coming back East to Cincinnati as June begins.

Still, if you’re going to go through this kind of run, it’s good to see 15 games in May scheduled against teams currently in their divisional cellars… instead of 15 games vs. clubs that were thought to be contending for 1st or 2nd places at this point.

True, there are 5 other games against the two best teams in baseball – Houston and Washington. But that 15 looks a lot better.

Milwaukee

Next on the docket are the Brewers. The Braves might not escape seeing Eric Thames, who is now looking a lot more like Mike Trout than the guy who bounced around AAA for 3 years before trying out Korea for the last 3 seasons.

This is where advance scouts earn their keep. Hopefully the Braves’ spies have found a hole in his considerable swing that’s currently slugging .904 and OPS’ing nearly 1.500.

If Atlanta can contain Thames and/or Ryan Braun, then perhaps they can bring the Brewers back to earth after their 12-11 start.

But now we’re here as May is on the horizon. The bench is being addressed. The bullpen is getting new (and rehabbed) blood. The offense is healthy, save for Brandon Phillips (hopefully just a couple of days away).

Next: Minors on Fire (Frogs and more)

May is now looking a lot better than it could have been. Lets watch to see if Atlanta can take advantage.

Home/Braves News