Much has changed in 48 hours. The Atlanta Braves now have no chance of being the National League’s No. 1 seed. They’ve fallen behind the Rockies – not the Dodgers, mind you – in pursuit of the No. 2 seed, which carries the alleged home-field edge in the Division Series.
In the grand scheme, the consecutive losses at Citi Field – this marked the only time these Braves lost two straight to the Mets, against whom they finished 13-6 – might turn out to mean nothing. Or they might mean something. The baseball postseason is funny that way. We try to apply what we think we know, and often it turns out that nobody knows anything.
This part we do know, kind of: Teams will run flat-out in the pursuit of a playoff berth, but they don’t apply the same fervor to seeding. We saw that Thursday: Brian Snitker sought to give Freddie Freeman, who almost never sits, the night off. (Freeman pinch-hit with two out in the ninth. He struck out.) The Braves never led and lost 4-1.
This isn’t meant as a criticism of Snitker: He has played his usual starters, give or take, in every post-clinching game save the day after, when he ran out a lineup including Adam Duvall, Rio Ruiz, Lane Adams and Ryan Flaherty. Freeman and Nick Markakis were removed after one plate appearance. You’d have thought that was something approaching a forfeit. Nope. Adams hit a home run and an RBI double off Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola, who could finish second in the NL Cy Young voting, and the Braves won 2-1.
Speaking of whom: The Phillies, whom the Braves play again this weekend, have quit. They’ve lost eight in a row. They’re 78-81. They cannot finish above .500. They’re three games behind second-place Washington. They were outscored 39-7 over four games in Denver.
Meanwhile, Colorado is doing as it did in 2007. Those Rockies won 13 of 14 games to force a one-game playoff with San Diego for the wild card. (There was only one then.) They beat Trevor Hoffman in extra innings. They swept Philly in the NLDS. They swept Arizona in the NLCS. That made in 22 wins in 23 games. Colorado was then swept by Boston in the World Series, but that month lives in baseball lore as Rocktober.
This September has taken on a similar look. The Rockies were swept in Los Angeles last week to fall 2-1/2 games behind the Dodgers in the West and 1-1/2 games behind the Cardinals for the second wild card. Colorado has since won seven straight by the aggregate score of 52-10. It holds a one-game lead on L.A. with three to play. (Rockies are at home against Washington this weekend; Dodgers play at San Francisco, with Madison Bumgarner starting for the Giants tonight.)
There’s a real chance the Braves could play Game 1 of the NLDS at the ballpark on Blake Street, as opposed to the famous stadium in Chavez Ravine. Then again, everything could look different this time tomorrow. And it’s possible the biggest Braves news of the regular season’s final week could have nothing to do with seedings. Dansby Swanson suffered a partially torn ligament in his left hand Tuesday in New York. His status for Round 1 is uncertain. You’d rather not be without your shortstop in October.
Then again, the Braves have Charlie Culberson, of whom nobody had much heard until he hit a home run against the Astros in the 11th inning of a wild Game 2 – seven of the game’s 13 runs were scored in extra innings; 12 of the 13 came via home runs – of the 2017 World Series. As a Brave, Culberson has been a major contributor in a minor role. He could play short. Or he could play third and let Johan Camargo scoot over. Shortstop is one place where this team has a workaround.
Oh, and one thing more: Since the Nats spit the bit in midseason, consensus has held that the National League's two best teams were the Cubs and the Dodgers. They could meet in the wild card game, which means one would be gone before matters really get going. Wouldn't that be a hoot?
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