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Coming weeks crucial for Atlanta Braves

By Matthew Browning

ATLANTA, GA - AUGUST 14: Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 high fives Rafael Ortega #18 of the Atlanta Braves following the game against the New York Mets at SunTrust Park on August 14, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - AUGUST 14: Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 high fives Rafael Ortega #18 of the Atlanta Braves following the game against the New York Mets at SunTrust Park on August 14, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) /
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The dog days of the baseball season are here and the Atlanta Braves lead the NL East by 5 games over the Nationals. The schedule over the coming weeks will play a significant factor in determining the division.

Beginning on July 15th, the Atlanta Braves played seven out of their next ten series against teams with a winning record. Their division lead was 7.5 games that day.

Fast forward to August 20th and the Braves still have a five-game lead in the division, while going 17-15 over that difficult stretch of their season.

But as we sit here with 36 games remaining, the next two weeks of the season will define the Braves season.

Consider their next six series:

  • (home) Marlins
  • (at) Mets
  • (at) Rockies for a single makeup game
  • (at) Blue Jays
  • (home) White Sox
  • (home) Blue Jays.

Those opponents are a combined 75 games below .500 (before Monday night’s games).

More to Consider

What’s just as important, though, is the Nationals’ schedule is just as soft. They play the Pirates, Cubs, Orioles, Marlins and Mets during the same stretch. Those teams are 88 games below .500.

The Phillies schedule isn’t quite as soft, but it’s not overly difficult, as they play the Red Sox, Marlins, Pirates, Mets and Reds. That’s 49 games below .500.

Conversely, the Mets have a brutal stretch: Indians, Braves, Cubs, Phillies and Nationals and those teams are 65 games over .500.

Washington is 10-5 in the month of August and it gets Max Scherzer back Thursday, so I see no reason why they can’t go at the minimum 10-5 during the next two weeks.

That means the Braves must keep pace, there’s no good reason why they can’t.

They have owned Miami this season, going 12-4 (though many of the contests have been close) and have also played well against the Mets winning 8 of 13 games.  Also:

  • Colorado has really scuffled recently, despite winning its last four games. Over their last 20 games, the Rockies are 8-12.
  • The White Sox and Blue Jays are a combined 36 games below .500 but are 9-9 and 9-8 in August, respectively.

Dansby Swanson and Austin Riley appear to be close to returning, so that would give the lineup a significant boost soon.

If Atlanta can simply maintain its lead throughout these next two weeks, then that puts the pressure on Washington and Philadelphia to win the games they play with the Braves in September.

Count me one who wants to avoid that drama and feel relatively stress free down the season’s final games.

dark. Next. Braves claim a speedster

Winning 10 or 11 games over the next 14 would certainly do that.

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