With the division already clinched, there wasn’t much for the Atlanta Braves to play for entering the final week of the regular season.
But with their two losses in the Reds series locking the Braves into the No. 3 seed and no first-round bye, there’s really nothing to play for in this weekend’s final regular-season series at the Miami Marlins, which begins Friday at 7:10 p.m. EDT.
Nothing Atlanta can do will have any effect on anything in terms of the postseason. This series is just about lining up the pitching, which began with expected Game 1 and Game 2 starters Chris Sale and Tyler Mahle starting the final two games of the Reds series.
The important stuff will be happening elsewhere, with the Phillies entering their final regular-season series against the Tampa Bay Rays currently positioned to head to Atlanta for the best-of-three wild-card series.
However, the Phillies are capable of both climbing up past Chicago or San Diego or falling out of the playoffs, bringing a two-game lead over the Diamondbacks for the final NL wild-card spot entering this weekend.
That lack of importance of this series is certainly evident in the Braves not yet announcing their starting pitchers for any games of the series at the Marlins, including for Friday’s series opener as of 2 p.m. EDT.
The Marlins, however, did announce their starter, with right-hander Eury Pérez (7-11, 4.14) getting the ball. This will be Pérez’s third time facing the Braves this season, posting an 0-1 record and 7.00 ERA through the first two starts. In his career, he’s 0-3 with a 9.78 ERA against Atlanta.
Even if there isn’t anything in the way of stakes in this series, it’s still an important time for the lineup to find its form as it looks to win its first postseason series since the 2021 World Series next week in Atlanta.
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