The Braves are not a sure thing to make the postseason. There’s no such thing as certainty in baseball (though this year’s Yankees may come close). Still, it’s already safe to say the defending World Series champions again will play in the postseason. The Braves won’t have to rely on a magical run to make it this time because they are a better, deeper team.
The Braves are six games clear of the wild-card cutoff as they begin their post All-Star schedule Friday. They are 2 ½ games behind the Mets in the East. All three major statistical projections put their postseason chances at 95% or better. All signs point to the Braves (56-38) continuing to win at their current pace of 96 wins, which would be eight more than last season. Some signs indicate the Braves will finish even better than that.
That’s why I’m already pondering on how the Braves stack up against their main rivals to win the World Series. Betting markets are giving them the fifth-shortest odds to win (9-1) behind the Yankees (4-1), Dodgers (4-1), Astros (5-1) and Mets (7-1). Those probabilities look right to me. The Braves need more pitching to boost their chances.
