How important is home-field advantage in the playoffs?
The Atlanta Braves are closing in on their sixth straight NL East title. The Braves are 14.5 games ahead of the Phillies, 19.5 games ahead of the Marlins, 26.5 games ahead of the Mets, and 29 games ahead of the Nationals for the lead in the NL East. Not only is Atlanta ahead in their own division, the Braves are six games ahead of the Dodgers for the No. 1 seed in the National League.
Homefield advantage in the playoffs is huge. Especially if you have it all the way through the NLCS. Sure, the Braves have the best road record in the MLB this year at 46-24, but let's look at the Braves record in the playoffs over the past five years. Since 2018, the Braves are 5-9 on the road in the playoffs. We may have to put an asterisk on that because of the 2020 bubble playoffs. The Braves played at home in the wild-card round against the Reds but then played in Houston for the NLDS and Arlington for the NLCS. Those don't count as true road games so those games were not included.
In that same span, the Braves were 12-5 at home. That includes the 2-0 sweep of the Reds at home in 2020. When the Braves won the 2021 World Series, they finished with an insane 7-1 record at home. The only home game they lost was Game 5 against Houston in the World Series. Adam Duvall hit a grand slam in the first inning but the Astros came back and won.
At the end of the day, the stats don't lie. The Braves have the best fans in the MLB and it is a game-changer to be able to play in front of them in the playoffs.
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