Braves Report: Just enjoy it y’all

Hey, y’all.

Have you heard?

The Braves have a really important stretch of games coming up.

REMEMBER TO BREATHE

Ronald Acuña Jr. is shown before Tuesday’s game in Washington. (Nick Wass/AP)

By Chad Bishop

This is, without question, a massive series between the Braves and Phillies beginning Friday at Citizens Bank Park. But is it the be-all and end-all?

At the risk of pouring a bucket of ice water over the flames of excitement for this four-game matchup, both these teams have 18 more games to play (including three more against each other) after Monday’s series finale. This thing is — and will be — far from over no matter what happens.

• The Braves have three games remaining with first-place Tampa Bay (Tuesday-Thursday); three in Chicago against the Cubs (Sept. 14-16); and three against the AL West-leading Astros in Houston (Sept. 18-20).
• The Phillies must play series this month against the Astros, Brewers and Rays, too.

One could argue the NL East may be decided not by how the Phillies and Braves do against each other, but how they fare against a tough September schedule.

According to FanGraphs, the Braves (100%) and Phillies (99.6%) are both virtual locks to make the postseason. Will the final seven meetings between these two go a long way in determining playoff seeding and the division crown? Sure. But no one is getting eliminated this weekend (or next, when the two squads meet again).

So, sit back and enjoy some highly competitive, high-level baseball over the next few days. Just don’t get too wrapped up in the results in the context of the bigger picture.

A marathon isn’t decided in the last mile, folks. Or maybe it is? I don’t know. I’m not a runner.

VOTE: DO DIVISION TITLES MATTER?

The implication here is not that the Braves will lose their division lead (I believe quite the opposite).

Chad’s missive did get me thinking, though … and thinking led me to today’s poll question.

🤔 Do we care about division titles these days?

Those of us in The Land of 14 Straight Division Titles have some complicated feelings on the subject. There are also more ways than ever to make the playoffs, and only a top-2 overall seed in your league (AL or NL) guarantees a first-round bye.

So, whaddya think? How much do you care about the Braves winning the National League East?

A. I care very much. Have some pride!

B. Only matters if it comes with a first-round bye.

C. Only matters because it means the Phillies or Mets didn’t win it.

D. Not one iota. Just get in and see what happens.

You know the drill: Vote via the fancy form or shoot me an email. And keep on reading, dearhearts.

QUICK, SOME OTHER NEWS!

⚡ At 904 career games, Ronald Acuña Jr. became the fastest player in MLB history to hit the 200 home run, 200 stolen base mark. The players right behind him, according to MLB: Alfonso Soriano (929); Eric Davis (1,053); Bobby Bonds (1,065); Sammy Sosa (1,094); and Barry Bonds (1,094).

⚡ Tyler Mahle: A postseason asset after all?

⚡ Setup man Robert Suárez is throwing bullpen sessions … but his recovery efforts are “subject to change virtually every day.”

⚡ Reliever Blake Burkhalter made his (very) brief big league debut, then was replaced by Elieser Hernández.

⚡ Yes, Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep are both having elbow surgery. Yes, that stinks.

THE PHILLIES AND RAYS AWAIT

Boo. Hiss. (Laurence Kesterson/AP)

OK, let’s talk about the actual ballgames.

1️⃣ BRAVES AT PHILLIES

Game times: Friday through Monday at these annoyingly different times: 6:40, 6:05, 1:10 and 1:05 p.m., respectively. All on BravesVision except for Sunday’s game (the 1:10 p.m. start), which airs on NBC and Peacock.

What to know: The Braves have dominated the Phillies thus far this season, taking five of their six games while outscoring them by a collective 32-16. They haven’t played since April, though.

And while the Braves floundered a bit after back-to-back sweeps of the Dodgers and Rockies in late August, the Phillies find themselves on another heater. They lost just seven games in August and had won six straight before a 1-0 loss to the Diamondbacks on Wednesday.

How? Well, according to stats accumulated by NBC Philadelphia …

• Philly averaged 4.34 runs per game for most of the season. In August? More like 5.25. They nearly cut their strikeout rate in half, walked more and hit a robust .315 with runners in scoring position.

The probable starters: Juicy stuff here.

• Chris Sale (13-9, 2.06 ERA) vs. Cristopher Sánchez (16-4, 2.52)
• Martín Pérez (8-8, 3.05) vs. Zack Wheeler (11-7, 3.31)
• Tyler Mahle (5-10, 4.25) vs. Aaron Nola (6-10, 4.93)
• Grant Holmes (9-5, 3.62) vs. Jesús Luzardo (13-5, 3.02)

Like Sale, Sánchez is a top Cy Young contender. And Luzardo just won National League Pitcher of the Month.

2️⃣ BRAVES VS. RAYS

Game times: Tuesday through Thursday at 7:15, 7:15 and 12:15 p.m., respectively. All on BravesVision, with Tuesday’s game simulcast on your local Gray TV station.

What to know: The Rays own the American League’s best record and, as of Friday morning, led the Yankees by three games in the AL East.

• They’ll also bring some big bats into Atlanta: Third baseman Junior Caminero, first baseman Jonathan Aranda and DH Yandy Díaz each have at least 76 RBIs on the season. Caminero’s 37 homers are ranked among MLB’s leaders.

Yeah, but: For what it’s worth, Tampa Bay’s season run differential of +45 sits third-lowest among all division leaders (the Braves are at +118). The Rays are also much more beatable on the road, where they had a 36-32 record.

MURPHINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MA-SEAN

Apologies for that particularly tortured pun … but did you forget Sean Murphy can hit?

I kinda did.

The oft-injured catcher hit a three-run homer in Wednesday’s 9-0 romp over the Nationals, capping off a seven-game run that has him hitting .417 with three dingers and eight RBIs. He’s gotten a hit or walked in exactly half his at-bats over that span.