There’s an old saying in the game of baseball: It ain’t over till it’s over. What started off as a quirky liner by the great Yogi Berra sometimes becomes a rallying cry for teams ready to keep fighting.
The Atlanta Braves head into their series with the Chicago White Sox on a five-game winning streak and have won 10 of their last 12. In theory, they should be out of it, but they’ve been moving closer to a playoff spot.
Ahead of Monday’s game, manager Brian Snitker was up to have some fun with the idea that they can come back to make the playoffs.
“We’re professionals, and you go out and you do everything you can to win today, regardless of the situation.”
While they’re still technically in it, there is no reason not to try.
“We dug ourselves an unbelievable hole, but you know what? We still want to go out. We want to win as many games as we can. So, yeah, but until we’re mathematically eliminated, we’re not.”
Again, he’s likely being tongue-in-cheek with the idea. He’s certainly not going to say that it’s over. He doesn’t have it in him, even if he knows it’s a long climb back to the top.
That doesn’t mean they won’t get serious with the idea if they chip away a little more before September.
The fact that this is an idea that can be joked around about shows the run the Braves are starting to get on. They’ve finally won more than four in a row. They’ve been beating some solid competition. Why not have fun with the idea while the winning is picking back up?
Even if they don’t make the playoffs like they’re expected not to, a strong finish would mean a lot for this team and the morale for next season.
There is some hope that this group has more runs left in the tank. The peak of the run with this group wouldn’t be totally over. They have an off year, they reset, make to necessary changes in the offseason and get going again in 2026.
It would fit nicely with some of the turnarounds we’ve seen late in the season from Michael Harris II, Marcell Ozuna and Hurston Walderp. The emergence of Joey Wentz has made this recent run doable as well.
When Chris Sale and Austin Riley get back, the fun might only get better.
