The Good News for the Braves?
Nobody is exactly running away with the NL East at this point:
- The Mets can’t hit their way out of a wet lunch sack
- The Phillies don’t have enough length to either their rotation or their lineup
- The Nationals are fighting health issues, pretty much as expected
- The Marlins are pesky, but ultimately have an unsustainable offense
These facts should at least keep the Braves competitive and within striking distance of the lead… and hopefully long enough to get their acts together.
The trick is that Atlanta must avoid giving away games “for free”: they must not lose games that their opponents haven’t really earned. Walking in extra runs or otherwise giving up runs while still not allowing a hit is something that must not happen… and yet it has happened on multiple occasions already.
There’s one more catch, too: this tendency of every NL East club gravitating toward .500 records has an implication that few would have expected as this season got started.
The upshot is that the NL East could be playing itself out of the chance for any Wild Card playoff berths — making it vital that the Braves avoid waiting too long before they ‘make their move’ this Summer.
The bad news is that each of these clubs might also want to make their own improvements before the trade deadline, thus blunting the impact of whatever the Braves end up doing.
Ergo, the winning club might very well end up being the one most successful at the end of July… and all of these NL East members might have to hang on until the deal-making gets underway.