Reasons why Atlanta Braves will earn Wild-card playoff spot if not the Division Championship-Part 1
As other teams in the Division are giving in, the Atlanta Braves are fast headed to playing in the post-season. The passage has been cleaned after the teams like the New York Mets and the Miami Marlins in the Division do not leave any reason to believe that
they can improve. This means that even a slight decline by the Braves down the line will keep their position intact.
Only way the Braves can be denied the wild-card berth is by incredible performances from the teams, which contend for the same from other Divisions. For example, sharp increase in their winning percentages can go a long way in this regard. However, if their
performance so far and the competitiveness of their rivals within the Division are any determinant, they cannot leave the Braves behind.
What benefits the Braves more is the fact that none of the teams in their Division seems to be capable of rebounding suddenly. This is something which other teams holding the second position on the respective tables do not enjoy.
For example, in the case of Braves, they can be assured that at-least they are safe in their Division. Whatever number of games the other teams are going to play will result in the decline of their winning percentages. If one terms this presumed trend by
them as inversely proportional to the Braves’ chances, winning percentage of the said club will increase substantially.
Imagine if these teams from the Braves’ National League East play matches with the clubs that are fighting for second place on table in other Divisions, certainly the former will become an easy prey for winning games. There is a greater possibility that
they will help those competing teams in improving their win-loss record. In turn, the atmosphere in other Divisions is going to be more competitive than in the National League East Division.
Subsequently, one can expect frequent changes in the top position holders in them. With every next day bringing a new team in the second position on the concerned tables, the teams’ focus will be shifted from going ahead of any other club in the League’s
Divisions to surviving in one of their own.
Escaping their way out of the clutches of their Division competitors will more likely leave them contending with such a winning percentage that will prove insufficient for winning the wild card berth.
This in turn means that the Braves will have established the kind of win-loss record from where surpassing them will not be possible for the inter-Divisional rivals. The Braves, capitalising on feeble nature of the Division teams, will have strengthened
their position to such an extent that out of the two clubs that are to earn the wild-card berth from each League, they will be the most obvious one to claim this.
Besides the mediocrity of opponents in the National League East, there are other developments taking place which point to a potential formidability of the Braves.
Their rotation which is relatively weaker in general has begun giving an impression that it can help the Braves get through this critical phase of the season. There are reasons to believe that the factors that led to their collapse last year in September
no longer exist now.
While back then it was the thumping decay in one month after some amazing momentum carried all through the season by them, this year it looks to be the other way around.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Continued in Part 2
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