Been There, Done That! The Atlanta Braves Conquer the NL East for Sixth Time
By Austin Owens
The countdown for the NL East division title for the Atlanta Braves is over. For the sixth consecutive year, Atlanta has claimed the NL East title. While Atlanta still has work to do to clinch home-field advantage in the playoffs, they will first celebrate the dominance of their division.
The magic number of zero to win the division represents the amount of doubt in the Braves this season. From the start of the 2023 season, the Braves have been winning games convincingly and breaking record after record.
Atlanta now finds themselves at the "head of the table" as they are the first team to clinch their division in 2023.
“We got a seat at the table, now we’re going to be at the head of the table”
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) September 14, 2023
- R̶o̶m̶a̶n̶ ̶R̶e̶i̶g̶n̶s̶ Brian Snitker☝️
(via @Braves)pic.twitter.com/yaGvI9Algi
Atlanta broke the NL record for home runs in a single season with 17 games remaining. The team has two MVP candidates Ronald Acuna Jr. and Matt Olson in addition to Cy Young Award candidate Spencer Strider.
Coming into the season, Atlanta was projected to finish third in the division by many behind the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. At the time the Braves clinched the division, they were around 15 games up on the second-place Phillies and nearly 30 games ahead of the fourth-place Mets. That is what you call pure dominance.
Atlanta has not lost five consecutive games all season long and has tallied multiple 5+ game-winning streaks. It does not matter if the Braves are playing at home or on the road, in 2023, they are the favorites to win.
NL EAST CHAMPS! What a memorable 6 years it has been for the Atlanta Braves. Every season with its own special and unforgettable moments. https://t.co/pxldIm73wt
— House That Hank Built (@HouseHankBuilt) September 14, 2023
The Braves will end their season with a lot of division matchups. They will see the Marlins, and Phillies one more time in Atlanta, the Nationals twice, and the Chicago Cubs over the next couple of weeks.
Atlanta will enjoy this achievement for a day and get right back to work to focus on clinching home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
For the rest of the season, Braves fans will also be rooting for anyone who is playing the Los Angeles Dodgers or Baltimore Orioles.
The Dodgers are a few games behind Atlanta for the best team in the National League and the Orioles are on the heels of the Braves for the best team in baseball. A combination of a Braves win and loss from one of those two teams puts Atlanta one step closer to home-field advantage throughout October.