As we are about to enter the month of September, it is time to start thinking about the postseason and playoff positioning. More and more, you will start hearing about all of the various clinching scenarios and tiebreakers across the league, and perhaps we will see a bit of chaos the last week of the season over in the AL where half the league is still in the running for a Wild Card spot. For the Atlanta Braves, the playoff picture and their magic number are decidedly less messy.
As of August 31, the Braves sit at 82-55 and hold a five-game lead in the NL East over the Phillies, with the rest of the division lagging far behind Atlanta and Philly. For the true pessimists out there, Atlanta is firmly in the driver's seat for a Wild Card spot if things go sideways and the division is somehow lost, although that would require a collapse of epic proportions despite a pretty soft end-of-season schedule.
Exactly how much of a lock are the Braves for the playoffs? Well, you have to look at the magic numbers to make the playoffs as well as to win the division to realize that while their job is far from done, Atlanta is in a really good spot.
Braves' magic number highlights the importance of the first couple of weeks of their September schedule
According to the fittingly named Sports Magic Numbers, the Braves' current magic number to clinch a playoff spot is 16. That means that any combination of Braves wins and losses by other contenders for available playoff spots that is 16 or more means Atlanta is heading to the postseason again. As for the NL East, that is a little trickier, but the easiest answer is 21 without getting into some pretty bizarre tiebreaker scenarios with the Phillies depending on how these final two series against them go.
If you look around the league, the Braves have among the lowest magic numbers, which speaks to how commanding their position currently is. Only the Rays (12) and Brewers (13) have lower magic numbers than Atlanta, and the Braves are tied with the Dodgers and Yankees with the third-lowest.
So what does that mean? Well, it just means the Braves should focus on winning baseball games, and the math will take care of itself. If Atlanta can get a winning record out of their last seven games against Philly, that slashes at least eight off their division magic number by itself. If the Braves post a winning record in September, that is likely enough to secure the NL East. If they can't do that, well...we are going to have to start looking at some math that is much less fun.
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