At 47-63, the Atlanta Braves' playoff aspirations for 2025 are basically over. Unless the Braves go on the heater to end all heaters to end the season AND some teams in front of them collapse, the Braves will fail to make the postseason for the first time since 2017 and that stinks. However, that doesn't mean that Atlanta can't play spoiler the rest of the season and that appears to have already started.
The Braves just took on a Reds team that needed a good series to keep pace in the NL wild card race and Atlanta took two out of three from Cincy over the weekend. Those wins don't feel quite as good when the Braves are out of it, but it was still nice to ruin someone else's weekend for a change
Atlanta has another real chance to play spoiler this week as they take on the Brewers who both have the best record in baseball right now and who are also in a tough battle in the NL Central.
Braves may be out of it, but they still have a chance to cause havoc with the Brewers
On paper, the Brewers certainly don't seem like a team that should have MLB's best record, but here we are. Thanks to an offense that ranks in the top 5 in baseball by fWAR due primarily to their speed and defense as well as a solid pitching staff, Milwaukee has defied expectations after what could best be described as a rocky offseason. However, the Cubs remain hot on their trail in the division race, so the Brewers need to keep the wins coming.
This is where the Braves come in. It would be easy for Atlanta to roll over the rest of the season given where they are in the standings as they aren't playing for anything substantive. If anything, playing worse gives the Braves a better chance at snagging the #1 overall pick, though that is not certain given MLB's relatively new draft lottery.
That said, this is a prideful Braves roster. Their struggles are not for lack of trying, but because of injuries and good ol' fashioned regression. This is a team that wants to show that they are still not to be trifled with even as the losses have stacked up. They just made a statement against the Reds that they aren't going to roll over for anyone. A strong end to the 2025 season at least would give the Braves something to build on going into next year. One hopes that the Brewers are the next team to find out just how dangerous Atlanta still is.