Atlanta Braves enter most important week of the season
With the Phillies and Nationals on the schedule, and the trade deadline looming, the Atlanta Braves enter the biggest week of the season.
There could be no one week more important to the Atlanta Braves 2019 season then the one starting on Friday and running through the July 31 trade deadline.
It might seem a bit dramatic to consider the last week in July as the most important week of the season, but there is certainly a case to be made.
The Atlanta Braves will enter the weekend at best 4.5 games up on the Washington Nationals, and at worst, 3.5 games up.
And the Phillies aren’t far behind at 5.5 games back.
The schedule makers couldn’t have done a better job of scheduling as the Atlanta Braves end the month of July facing those two teams.
This weekend the Atlanta Braves travel to Philadelphia for a three-game set. The last time the Braves were there was when they got embarrassed to start the season.
Philadelphia will likely have their three best starters on the mound in this series with Jake Arrieta, Zach Eflin, and Aaron Nola.
The Phillies have a chance to get within three games of the Braves with a sweep. Or the Braves have a chance to push them further back and maybe change their mind about what to do at the trade deadline.
And then the Braves go to Washington for a three-game set that could be very uncomfortable depending on how the weekend goes.
The Nationals have one more game against the Rockies on Thursday, which also features the return of Max Scherzer.
But then they face the Dodgers top three starters over the weekend, so maybe the Braves will get a break there.
Either way, that three-game series next week will determine a lot as to how the NL East race goes the rest of the way.
The Atlanta Braves won’t face the Nationals or Phillies again until the beginning of September.
But how the Braves play in these games could determine not only what they do before the trade deadline, but what the Phillies and Nationals do.
If the Braves wreck shop and sweep the Phillies and take the first two against Washington, pushing them further back in the standings, then maybe those two teams don’t make a big move before the deadline.
But if the Braves continue to give ground and let them stay within five games, then maybe that increases the likelihood that the Phillies and Nationals make a big move.
And on the flip side, maybe that prevents the Atlanta Braves from making a big move if this team keeps playing as it has lately.
Outside of obviously sweeping the Phillies and Nats, the best-case scenario is the Braves taking two-of-three from the Phillies and pushing them to 6.5 back in the division.
While the Nationals lose two-of-three to the Dodgers to push them to either 4.5/5.5 back.
And then the Braves win game one against the Nationals to make them 5.5/6.5 back.
Hopefully that will be enough to show this front office that this team is worth backing. And hopefully that will be enough for the Nats and Phils to stand pat and not want to go for it this year.
We’ll see it how it all unfolds, but make no mistake, this week is highly important for the rest of the season for the Atlanta Braves.