The Braves need to win. That much is obvious. Throw out the weather problems. Ignore all the desperate griping from a certain franchise's fans in Queens who know their team only makes the playoffs twice a decade.
When the Kansas City Royals, hopefully, come to town on Friday, nothing else matters. Win that game and deal with what comes after later.
Braves' series against Royals dangerous despite KC's recent struggles
I believe for the most part the Braves are taking that mentality. However, one glaring thing makes it feel like Atlanta may be too worried about the impending doubleheader with the Mets on Monday, including their decision to start Max Fried in place of Chris Sale on Friday. Sale was supposed to start on Wednesday and once Friday finishes he will have gone 10 days without a start. That's not ideal.
Though the Braves wanted to rest his arm, hence why they pushed him back to start Wednesday, there becomes a point where you've waited too long. Especially when a loss could be catastrophic, even if they aren't totally eliminated yet.
And I'm about to make myself a hypocrite here, but continuing to wait to throw him puts a potential wrench in their plan for the wildcard games set to take place on Tuesday.
If he throws Monday against the Mets, he likely won't be ready to pitch in the wildcard series, unless the Braves are willing to throw him on short rest a week after pushing back his start to give him more rest. The Braves shouldn't feel comfortable going an entire playoff series without the eventual National League Cy Young being a factor.
Braves are literally going day-to-day based on their results and those of both the D-backs and Mets. So, we won't know Saturday's starter until Friday's games are complete. Tough situation. But with Fried, Sale, Lopez, Schwellenbach and Morton the Braves have good options. https://t.co/8PAIoSg0hb
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) September 26, 2024
Now there is a good chance that he still throws this weekend, and then would be available to throw in the Wildcard series if the Braves can clinch a spot. All of this may be taking a page from Mets' fans' books and overreacting, but it is concerning to me how the Braves are using Sale at the most pivotal part of the season.
The Braves have more problems than just potential self-inflicted wounds
The Braves need to be concerned about this Royals series. Though Kansas City has been struggling, having lost seven of their last 10, a first playoff berth since 2014 will be on the line no matter what on Friday, with one win by the Royals and/or a loss from the Twins potentially clinching a playoff spot.
The Royals will want to clinch sooner rather than later so they can set up pitching for the Wildcard series on Tuesday. But losing one game could mean the season for the Braves. If the Royals have to win more than one game to clinch, then things become even more disastrous.
And things seem to be turning around for the Royals, albeit against a subpar Nationals squad. They swept Washington on the road, scoring three in the ninth on Thursday to get a win. Leading up to that series the Royals lost one game to the Pirates, and were swept by the Tigers and the Giants, averaging just 1.8 runs per game in that stretch up until their most recent seven-run output.
Their top-of-the-order came alive in the series finale at Washington with Salvador Perez getting two base knocks and all of Bobby Witt Jr., Tommy Pham, and Yuli Gurriell knocking in a run at the top of the order. They had all struggled mightily over their seven-game skid coming into the series.
That could be a sign of things to come against a Braves team that seems ready to hold their best pitcher back until a potential elimination game.
Let's hope the Braves bats can stay hot in this series and overcome any potential pitching flaws. It would be a fantastic end to their regular season story to see an offense that has been borderline-awful all season, come through when it matters most.