The Atlanta Braves became the first team to 20 wins in MLB this season after beating their rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday. With their 20-9 start, the Braves have not only started off the 2026 season strong, but have had one of their best starts to a season in franchise history.
With Atlanta set to play their 30th game of the season on Tuesday night, we wanted to see how they compared to past Braves clubs, and how those teams wound up faring in the rest of the season and beyond.
How the 2026 Braves stack up against other hot starts in franchise history
Depending on how the Braves fare against the Tigers on Tuesday, they will either be 21-9 in their first 30 games, or 20-10. Regardless, there have only been other 10 instances in franchise history where the Braves started the season with 20 wins through their first 30 games.
Unsurprisingly, those starts helped propel the Braves to a bunch of playoff appearances. Of the 10 Braves teams to win 20 of their first 30 games, eight of those teams made the playoffs. The 1997 Braves had the best start of the 10, going 22-8 to start the year. The 1969 and 2000 both started 21-9. While all three of these teams made the playoffs, none of them won a playoff series.
The other seven instances of Atlanta winning 20 games in their first 30 games came in 1932, 1982, 1983, 1998, 1999, 2023, and 2024. The 1982, 1998, and 2023 teams all won the a division title but did not win the next playoff series. The 2024 Braves only managed a Wild Card appearance. The 1999 Braves had the best outcome of the 20+ game winning teams, as they advanced to the World Series that season.
The 1983 and 1932 Braves were the two clubs that missed out on the playoffs entirely, The 1983 Braves went 88-74, while the 1932 Braves went 77-77. Of course, this was also in a time before expanded playoffs, first in the form of the Divisional Era, and later the Wild Card.
Four of these teams won more than 100 games, with the 1998 team winning 106, the 2023 team winning 103, the 1999 team winning 103, and the 1997 team winning 101.
Although none of these hot starts yielded a championship, they have set up the Braves to be in great position to make the playoffs. The 1957 Braves won 19 of their first 30 games en route to a championship, while the 1995 Braves won 18 games of their first 30 before winning the World Series.
While there's still a lot of the season to be played, the way Atlanta has started the 2026 season has no doubt been a joy to watch.
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