Barring something miraculous, the Atlanta Braves are going to be the No. 2 seed in the playoffs and will take on the winner of the NL Central. We look at which team would be the most favorable to play.
As of Thursday afternoon, the St. Louis Cardinals hold a three-game lead over the Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers, but the Cardinals play the Cubs seven more times over the next week, while the Brewers play Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Colorado. The Atlanta Braves have fared well against the Cardinals and Cubs this season, while struggling against the Brewers, who have lost Christian Yelich since.
Against the Cardinals, the Braves went 4-2, including 2-1 in St. Louis, while outscoring them 29-27.
Against the Cubs, the Braves went 4-2, outscored them 41-30, and split four games in Chicago in June.
However, the Brewers weren’t as kind to the Braves as the others. While the Braves managed to go 3-3, they were outscored 34-27 and dropped two-of-three at Miller Park.
All three teams were good at home, but the Cubs’ record at Wrigley Field stands out in particular as they have gone 51-25 at the Friendly Confines. But on the road, the Cubbies are 31-44.
The Cardinals are 48-29 at home and 36-38 on the road, while the Brewers are 45-31 at home and 37-38 on the road.
In following slides I’ll take a look at how each player in the Braves lineup and rotation has produced against each three teams and then decide who the best matchup would be.
First up is the current NL Central leader, the St. Louis Cardinals.