Perhaps the biggest series of the MLB season to date had its final two games postponed.
The stage was set for perhaps the biggest series we’ll see all season long to be played between the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves. A spot in the postseason was on the line, and the victor of the three-game set could easily be the team that makes it to October.
Game 1 of the series was all Atlanta. Michael Harris II had one of the best games of his young career, Spencer Schwellenbach pitched a gem, and the Braves bullpen closed out a convincing 5-1 win. The Mets were hoping for revenge in Game 2 against likely NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale, but Mother Nature would have no part of that.
Not only was Wednesday’s game postponed but Thursday’s game was as well, as Hurricane Helene is nearing landfall. This is a major inconvenience for everyone involved, yet it feels as if it was entirely avoidable with this weather being easily predictable.
The Mets-Braves games today and tomorrow have been postponed, The Post has learned
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) September 25, 2024
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 between now and the MLB offseason.
Crucial Braves-Mets series set to resume in doubleheader on Monday, Sept. 30
According to Joel Sherman of the NY Post, a doubleheader featuring these two NL East rivals is set to take place on Monday, September 30, beginning at 1:10 p.m. ET. The regular season was supposed to end the day before, but it will be extended for both teams if it has to be.
According to Sherman, games will only be played if they have to for one or both teams for playoff reasons. This means that if both of their fates are sealed, the games would not be played.
It cannot be overstated just how much of an inconvenience this is for both sides. The Braves had their two best pitchers, Chris Sale and Max Fried, lined up to face the Mets. Assuming they pitch in their weekend series against the Kansas City Royals, it’s highly unlikely that they’ll be available for Monday’s doubleheader which could easily dictate Atlanta’s season.
On New York’s side, their inconvenience mainly has to do with travel. The Mets are going from Atlanta to Milwaukee to play a three-game series and then might have to go back to Atlanta to finish their season before traveling elsewhere for a postseason series immediately, if they make it.
Even if one or both of these teams make the postseason thanks to Monday’s results, the postseason begins on Tuesday. This means that one or both of these teams will have to travel to Milwaukee, Los Angeles, or San Diego for a three-game series with no rest and presumably very tired pitching staffs.
Had the Braves organization not been inflexible prior to the series, perhaps we wouldn’t have been in this mess. Now, what both of these teams are likely rooting for is a collapse from the Arizona Diamondbacks, ensuring that they both make it to the postseason and do not have to play in Monday’s doubleheader.
MLB weather report: Hurricane Helene could impact Braves-Mets and more
Mother Nature could have a bigger impact than MLB fans would like down the stretch.
The most important series of the 2024 season thus far features two NL East rivals, the Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets, and is set to take place starting on Tuesday at Truist Park.
The Mets hold a two-game lead over Atlanta in the NL Wild Card race and can clinch a postseason berth if they win two of the three games they’re scheduled to play, thanks to the head-to-head tiebreaker. If the Braves manage to win or sweep the series, things become a whole lot more interesting.
Only one thing can stand in the way of this series being as entertaining as it’s supposed to be, and that’s Mother Nature. We already saw rain impact the opener of an important series between the Detroit Tigers and Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday, and that’s not even the worst of it.
Hurricane Helene is coming, and is expected to hit landfall in Florida on Thursday. With Georgia nearby, the Mets-Braves series could easily be impacted. In fact, there’s a good chance that Thursday’s game, at the very least, won’t be played as scheduled. Other complications could be coming too.
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 between now and the MLB offseason.
Hurricane Helene could impact crucial Mets-Braves series and more
As of now, this Mets-Braves series is set to be played as scheduled, but the forecast makes it unlikely to work out that way. With that in mind, there are a couple of ways MLB can deal with the weather concerns.
The easiest way to ensure that these teams can play all three games this week would be to move Thursday’s game to a neutral site. A trip to Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers, could potentially be in store for these teams as they’d avoid the hurricane and would have the comfort of a dome. Unfortunately, traveling to Texas just for one game would be a major inconvenience for everyone involved—and it would rob the Braves of the home field advantage that they deserve.
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