The Braves have spent this week trying to walk a very specific line: stay rested, stay healthy, and don’t lose their edge while the playoff picture settles around them. Ronald Acuña Jr. gave them a boost with a successful return to the lineup, but that good feeling didn’t last long once word broke that Martin Perez is headed to the IL with a back issue.
That injury doesn’t exactly send panic through the room, but it does tighten the margin for error. Perez wasn’t exactly inspiring confidence in recent outings, yet Atlanta still needs somebody it can trust beyond Chris Sale, Tyler Mahle, and Grant Holmes once the Wild Card round is over. Right now, the Braves don’t have a clean answer to that problem.
Bryce Elder was supposed to be part of the conversation, at least in theory. Before Perez went down, the expectation was that Elder - coming back from a clean-up procedure on his knee - would return and work out of the bullpen. That idea looks a lot less settled now, though it may not matter if he isn’t ready in time anyway.
The big issue is availability. Elder still has to get healthy enough to pitch, and there’s no guarantee that happens before the first two rounds of the postseason.
When asked about Elder on Thursday, Weiss said that he did not know whether or not he would be ready by the NLDS. That’s hardly a reassuring update, and it leaves open the possibility that JR Ritchie could end up in the playoff mix.
Offensively, the Braves are still getting respect on paper even if the recent production hasn’t always matched the names on the card. The Athletic ranked every postseason lineup and placed Atlanta seventh, a middle-of-the-pack spot for a team with this much talent.
The reasoning was straightforward: the Braves have dangerous hitters, but they haven’t been good over the last month or so, and down years from Austin Riley, Ozzie Albies, and Sean Murphy remain part of the picture. For a club whose offense has frustrated fans lately, seventh might sound generous - but it also shows there’s still belief that this group can hit when it matters.
The schedule is at least set. Atlanta will host the Wild Card round at Truist Park as the third seed in a best-of-three series from September 29-October 1.
The opponent is still unknown, though it will be one of the Cubs, Padres, Phillies, or Diamondbacks. The Phillies and D-Backs are still battling for the final NL playoff spot, and the Braves won’t know their exact matchup until the field is finalized.
Game times haven’t been announced yet, but the location and dates are locked in. For Braves fans, that’s enough to start circling the calendar and, if they’re feeling ambitious, figuring out how to get out of work.
In Other News...
Braves Playoff Rotation Just Lost A Starter At The Worst Time
The Braves playoff rotation took a hit at the worst possible time Monday, when the club announced that Martn Prez is headed to the injured list with lower back inflammation. It is a late setback for a team trying to line up its pitching for October, and it leaves Atlanta with less breathing room than it wanted as the postseason gets underway.
Prez was in position to matter in the NL Wild Card Series, and his absence also carries over into the NLDS if the Braves advance. With only a short window to adjust, Atlanta now has to rethink how it wants to piece together its early-round pitching plans while waiting to see how the rotation picture settles. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Could Dangle Big Names To Fix A Roster Problem
The Braves have already wrapped up the NL East, but the work ahead in Atlanta is likely to be less about celebrating the division title and more about figuring out how to smooth out a roster issue that has lingered beneath the surface. With an offseason in front of them, the front office could have to weigh whether the cleanest path to improvement means moving from a position of depth or from a few recognizable names who still carry real value in the market.
Alex Lodise, Cam Caminiti, Eric Hartman, Ozzie Albies, Spencer Strider and Reynaldo Lopez are among the players mentioned as possible trade candidates, and each brings a different mix of recent performance and contract considerations that could shape how other clubs view them. For the Braves, the calculation is less about attaching a label to any one player and more about deciding which pieces are most useful in solving the problem at hand without weakening the core that got them back to the top of the division. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Leave Cincinnati With One Big October Concern
The Braves spent a weekend in Cincinnati with little left to decide in the standings, but plenty to monitor as October approaches. Ronald Acua Jr. left with a shin contusion, though the early tests came back clean, and Atlanta also got a mixed bag on the field with a shutout loss, a narrow extra-innings win and another close defeat. There were bright spots along the way, including work from pitchers JR Ritchie and Chris Sale, plus contributions from Matt Olson and Austin Riley, but the bigger picture was less about the record than about how the group is holding up.
For a club that already has its division and postseason position locked in, the final tune-ups are about health and rhythm, and Acuas status now sits at the center of that conversation. The Braves do not need to chase anything in the standings, which makes every late-game decision and every awkward step on the bases feel a little more important than usual, especially with October closing in and the margin for error shrinking in a different way. [Read more 🡒]