After an exceptionally bad start to the 2025 season, the Atlanta Braves finally looked like the team they were expected to be this past weekend. Brian Snitker’s crew scored 16 runs across three games and swept the Minnesota Twins at Truist Park.
Seeing major improvements from the offense and showing some fight in an impressive comeback victory in the series opener, Braves fans finally have a reason to have some confidence in their team.
But while we don’t want to rain on Atlanta’s parade, that big weekend managed to change … basically nothing with regard to the NL East standings. The entire 2025 season will be an uphill battle for the Braves with the Mets and Phillies at the top of the division, and that 0-7 start may eventually prove too deep a hole to escape.
For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.
Did dismal start bury the Braves’ NL East hopes already?
Just 21 games into a 162-game season, it is very easy to keep the perspective of “it’s still early.” While this statement is true, we can also be realistic and recognize how difficult it is going to be for the Braves to earn a postseason bid in 2025.
History alone is against the Braves.
There has never been a team in Major League Baseball history that has lost their first seven games of the year and made the playoffs. Additionally, while the Braves were winning this weekend, so were the Mets (who swept the St. Louis Cardinals) and the Phillies (who took two of three from the Miami Marlins).
Despite winning three in a row, the Braves enter play on Monday still 6.5 games out of first place in the division. Of course, the Braves will have several chances throughout the season to make up ground when they play division opponents head to head, but they can’t be expected to win all of those matchups.
Even winning series against the Mets and Phillies may not be enough to bring the Braves out of the hole they have dug.
At this point, the Braves should obviously remain focused on what they can control — their performance alone — but to climb back to the top of the division standings, they will certainly need some help.
Winning the division may be the easiest way to get into the postseason this year as the NL Wild Card race is almost guaranteed to be cutthroat amid teams like the San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers, San Francisco Giants and whichever other member of the Braves/Phillies/Mets triumvirate falls short in the East.
