Opening Day countdown has officially gotten under 48 hours for Atlanta Braves fans. Unfortunately, the originally scheduled start time for the Braves 2024 opener may not be in the cards anymore. As of now, the Braves are set to begin their 2024 season against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday March 28th at 3:05 PM EST.
However, the weather forecast in Philadelphia doesn't leave much hope for that game starting on time. Now, we aren't saying that Thursday's game is a for sure postponement waiting to happen, but with rain expected to start in Philadelphia on Wednesday night and a 90% chance of rain for most of the day Thursday, we feel safe predicting some sort of delay.
Weather can obviously change, but opening day for Braves-Phillies on Thursday doesn’t look great. Thankfully it should mostly clear out for the weekend pic.twitter.com/EJWrhqZBg8
— Scott Coleman (@scottcoleman55) March 26, 2024
Built in off day could save the weekend series
However, for this very reason MLB starts the season on a Thursday. That means most series have a built in off day on Friday, in case of rain-outs on Opening Day. Once you get to Friday, the likelihood of rain drops drastically, and the door opens for baseball to be played.
Philadelphia's expected to get a lot more sunshine over the weekend, and temperatures are even expected to creep into the low 60's. That will be much closer to the Florida weather both teams have been enjoying over the last month.
The first thing you think about in a potential delay, is how the starting pitchers will react to the wrench thrown in their routine's. Thankfully, with it being the Opening Day game in jeopardy, both starters should be able to adjust accordingly.
I'm sure the atmosphere in CBP will be electric no matter the weather, and the high adrenaline pumping through Spencer Strider and Zack Wheeler should make for some impressive radar gun readings. No matter what the weather holds in store the next few days, Braves fans are pumped for meaningful baseball.