House That Hank Built
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Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: a playoff atmosphere is forming

By Alan Carpenter

ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 14: Left fielder Ronald Acuna, Jr. #13 (right) and second baseman Ozzie Albies #1 of the Atlanta Braves celebrate after the game against the Washington Nationals at SunTrust Park on September 14, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - SEPTEMBER 14: Left fielder Ronald Acuna, Jr. #13 (right) and second baseman Ozzie Albies #1 of the Atlanta Braves celebrate after the game against the Washington Nationals at SunTrust Park on September 14, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 30: Overview of the HP 30th Anniversary edition of the 12c Calculator at the HP 30th Anniversary celebration of the 12c Calculator at Harry’s Cafe /

The Sum of All Parts

So here’s the best teams in combined offense/defense/pitching fWAR, at the moment:

  • HOUSTON – 51.5
  • YANKEES – 50.0
  • BOSTON – 46.4
  • DODGERS – 44.5
  • CLEVELAND – 44.5
  • OAKLAND – 40.5
  • ATLANTA – 38.9
  • CHICUBS – 37.6
  • MILWAUKEE – 37.4
  • ST. LOUIS – 37.4
  • TAMPA BAY – 35.6
  • WASHINGTON – 35.1
  • ALSO:  PHILLY (31.4, 15TH), ARIZONA (31.2, 16TH), COLORADO (28.6 19TH)

The Braves will almost certainly reach that 40-mark by the end of the month and the Cubs/Brewers will be right about there as well.

More from Tomahawk Take

Clearly, the Braves belong in this hunt – the numbers prove that they’d earned their seat at the table.

But as usual, there is one ‘outlier’ – a playoff team that bucks the trend and manages to win enough despite not reaching the “40 level” of performance:  this year, that’s the Rockies.

Of course, Colorado is not a lock for post-season play by any means:  their lead in the West is only a half game (Dodgers 2nd) and losing that division crown could mean missing the playoffs entirely.

At the moment, the playoff question appears to be this:  which team can survive their remaining schedule the best:  the Rockies or the Cardinals.  The answer will be the team that travels to Milwaukee or Chicago to play in the Wild Card game.

WAR favors the Cardinals in that battle… the schedule favors Colorado.

Dare we think about the 'C' word?. dark. Next

But it’s plausible that neither will end up with a total team WAR above 40.

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