The magic numbers for the Atlanta Braves are starting to get lower and lower now that we’re entering the final portion of the regular season. As far clinching Atlanta’s first Postseason bid since 2024 and their eighth playoff appearance in the past nine seasons, the math is as simple as it gets. The Braves get in here on Friday, September 18 with either:
- A win over the Astros, OR
- A Diamondbacks loss
That’s it. Just one of those things need to happen and the Braves will be sharing firm handshakes and pats on the back by the end of the night. As
far as the division goes, there’s still some work needed to be done. The Phillies beat the Mets on Thursday night to kick off a four-game series so the magic number for the division is still at five. The tiebreaker and the calendar is on Atlanta’s side here, so a win on Friday night for the Braves would still go a long way.
Depending on the 2026 Mets is a fool’s errand but let’s just play it out. If the Mets can get a split while the Braves avoid getting swept then Atlanta’s going to be coming back home with a shot to clinch the division against the Cincinnati Reds. If the Phillies really trip up and lose three straight while the Braves take the series in Houston then the champagne could be popping in H-Town. The latter scenario is currently the only way that the Braves can end up clinching in Houston. I am not a doomer so I’m not going to entertain the doomsday scenarios so you can do that on your own.
I think we’d all prefer to see this end as early as possible but if I had to guess, we’ll probably see this race come to an end in Cobb County against the Reds. That’s still just a guess. I don’t think anybody would like to see this race end up heading into the final weekend with the Braves having to get something against a Marlins team that would likely relish being able to play the role of spoiler for their regular tormentors from Georgia while the Phillies would be getting a Rays team that would likely already have both the division and their seeding wrapped up by then.
So yeah, hopefully this all gets taken care of much sooner rather than later so Atlanta can ultimately turn their focus onto which minefield they’ll have to navigate in the Wild Card round between the Padres, Cubs and maybe even the Phillies. Again, both the tiebreaker and the calendar is on Atlanta’s side so this should get taken care of sooner rather than later. We’ll see what happens.
