With the New York Mets’ win on Sept. 19, the Atlanta Braves have officially been eliminated from MLB playoff contention. Despite a late surge, there will be no October baseball in Atlanta for the first time since 2017, snapping the club’s seven-year playoff streak, the third longest in the league. But for Braves faithful, the writing was on the wall as early as July. You may ask, “When did things go wrong?” The better question is this: Did things ever go right?
The season’s disappointment started before a single pitch was thrown. The Braves had a surprisingly quiet offseason for a team that was still in contention in the National League title.