Somehow, the Atlanta Braves are in second place in their division. Despite the fact that they’re five games under .500 and eight games behind the Washington Nationals, somehow there are three teams that absolutely refuse to compete more than the Braves and are somehow worse.
If the Braves were in just about any other division in baseball, they’d be in fourth or last place, but being in the NL East, they’re somehow a second-place team. Wild card #2, look out!
This is the kind of shit why baseball is awesome. Sometimes, you just never know how things pan out. This is kind of like a double-win for me, because the Braves are sucking like I want them to suck while they’re disrespectfully tanking on purpose, yet at the same time, they’re still somehow superior to the Mets and the Phillies.
I will tell you though, this is terrible news for the Nationals. Much like the premise of Rocky III, the Nats feasting on, and padding their record against a whole bunch of jobbers will undoubtedly get them into the playoffs at this rate, but the sheer lack of tough competition is going to make them soft as beanbags, and they’re pretty much already a forgone conclusion to get bounced in the first round.
Sure, this wouldn’t be anything new to the Nationals who have been getting bounced in the first round at a rate that makes Braves fans feel good about their team, but this kind of setup is heading for a potential 100-win team getting sent home early; probably by the Arizona Diamondbacks, because as certain as death and taxes, teams that I visit their ballparks have a tendency to boon those seasons, and I just got back from Phoenix this past weekend after seeing a Diamondbacks game.
Seriously, I visited Cleveland last year, and Citi Field the year before that. Both the Indians and the Mets went to the World Series in those years. And between the Rays, Tigers, A’s, Phillies, Cardinals, Giants and Reds, visits from me have undoubtedly been the reason why they made the playoffs in those years.
Anyway, I can’t imagine the Braves’ “success” is going to last for the rest of the season. I won’t anoint the Braves a 100-game loser like I had the previous two seasons, because they’ll just let me down and stave off 100 losses just like they did two years going. And frankly, the Phillies are pretty dreadful too, so it’s going to be a knuckle-dragging battle for last place between the two, but there’s no reason why the Mets and Marlins should stay beneath the Braves for the entire season. The Mets might be a joke, but they have all the pitching potential in the world to stay this bad, and the Marlins have a way better lineup than the Braves and Phillies to stay behind them all season.
I mean it’s all irrelevant, since none of them are going to make the playoffs anyway, but for what it’s worth, it’s entertaining to see such a futile division having a wimpy slap fight amongst themselves while there are third place teams in others that still have very legitimate chances to continue vying for wild card spots.
