Atlanta Braves: 5 storylines to watch in final week of regular season

As the Atlanta Braves look to clinch the NL East and prepare for the NLDS, we look at five storylines to watch in the final week.

The Atlanta Braves are in the middle of their final homestand and will likely clinch the NL East over the weekend against the San Francisco Giants.

But there is still a lot that the Atlanta Braves and its fans have to watch for in the final week of the season.

Going into Friday nights game, the Atlanta Braves have just eight regular season games left. It will be interesting to see how Brian Snitker plays his regulars after they clinch and what type of momentum the team carries into the postseason.

Here are five other storylines that we need to be paying attention to in the final week of the regular season.

40-40 and 40-40-40

Something I’ve personally been covering on here extensively to help make up for the lack of national attention is Ronald Acuña Jr.‘s pursuit of a 40-40 season — something that’s only happened four times in the history of this sport.

Entering action on Friday night, Acuna needs just three more stolen bases to accomplish this feat. It would be great if he could get it done over the weekend in front of the home crowd, but also so that Snitker can rest him in their final five games.

But another milestone to watch in the final week is the Atlanta Braves pursuit of having three guys hit 40 home runs.

Acuna has already reached that mark, while Freddie Freeman sits at 38 and Josh Donaldson at 37.

It’s beginning to look like this one won’t happen, especially if Snitker decides to rest these guys after clinching the division.

Both of these would be huge accomplishments, and what I’m most excited to watch down the stretch is Acuna going for 40-40.