ATLANTA — The Braves will make the playoffs with Vaughn Grissom or Orlando Arcia at shortstop and Eddie Rosario in left field. They are so good in so many other areas that below-average production at those positions won’t prevent them from at least securing one of three National League wild cards. Then anything can happen in the postseason.
However, the Braves need to fortify those spots to separate themselves from the Mets in the NL East. Winning the division almost certainly will mean avoiding the wild-card round. That doesn’t guarantee anything — the Braves won the East in 2022 before losing to the Phillies. But the bye decreases the odds of getting sunk by bad luck because the division series is best-of-five vs. best-of-three in the wild-card round.
That’s why the Braves will go all-out to win a sixth consecutive East title. I think that means general manager Alex Anthopoulos will have to cover the Braves at shortstop, especially, and left field. Two holes in the lineup is one too many to win the division, with the Mets finally gaining ground.
