Braves Briefing: Will Atlanta get to play ANY baseball in New York?

Here's a look around MLB from an Atlanta Braves perspective

Lindsay Crosby | Apr 30, 2023

The Atlanta Braves got a surprise off-day in New York after an early postponement of Saturday's scheduled game two versus the Mets, despite some belief that the game could be fit in later in the evening.

The bullpen gets some extra rest

Between Friday night's rain-shortened game (five innings, all pitched by Max Fried) and Saturday's rainout, every reliever in the Atlanta bullpen got at least two days of rest. It's great timing, too, as some of the key arms have thrown a lot this season.

Of the twenty-seven games Atlanta has played this season, Dylan Lee, Jesse Chavez, and AJ Minter have each appeared in thirteen of them. Lee's the only one that's avoided blowing a save (although he did give up two earned runs in 1/3rd of an inning against Miami), as Minter has two blown saves and a loss on his ledger (as well as a 8.53 ERA) and Chavez has a 3.48 ERA with two blown saves.

Thankfully, reinforcements have (and continue to) arrive. Collin McHugh rejoined the bullpen this week from the injured list, Joe Jiménez returned from the paternity list, and Raisel Iglesias is closer to making his season debut after starting a rehab assignment last week at AAA Gwinnett.

The weather doesn't look great for Sunday

The rain, which was strong overnight Friday but tapered off in the afternoon (yes, they could have gotten the game in Saturday night) will be steady on Sunday. Atlanta's indicated they're just pushing back each starter a day - would they push them back two days if today's game is also cancelled, or just skip Spencer Strider?

Weather doesn’t look all too good for a ballgame today… again. #Mets pic.twitter.com/FhkO2q5m0T
— Joe Pantorno (@JoePantorno) April 30, 2023

Update: Sunday is also rained out, with a doubleheader scheduled for Monday.

NL East Standings

Thanks to the rain-dodge by the Mets, Atlanta maintains their three game lead over the Mets for another day. The rest of the division, minus the Nationals, continues to stay bunched together in the middle of the standings.

Team	Record	Games Back	Schedule Today
Braves	18-9	--	@ NYM
Mets	15-12	3.0	vs ATL
Phillies	15-13	3.5	@ HOU
Marlins	15-13	3.5	vs CHC
Nationals	9-17	8.5	vs PIT

We Wrote It

When announcing the cancellation of Saturday's game two, I pointed out how it's kind of a worst-case scenario for the Mets:

The worst possible outcome for the Mets, realized. Scherzer drops the appeal of the suspension just to be back for the final game of the series, an early (and possibly unneeded) cancellation means he can't pitch, and they still aren't able to dodge Strider, who should be available to start on Sunday on an extra day of rest (if the weather holds up - tomorrow might be just as bad as Friday night and Saturday morning were).

Check out the whole thing (including the happy tweets from Mets fans) here:

READ: Saturday's Braves vs Mets game is rained out; will become doubleheader in August

What's next?

Sunday's game two, if it happens with the forecast, is scheduled for a 1:40 PM ET first pitch. The game broadcast, with Voice of the Braves Brandon Gaudin, is available inside Braves Country on Bally Sports South, and is available on MLB.TV outside of the broadcast area. The radio call, with Ben Ingram, is available locally on 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan or outside the Atlanta market on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network or MLB.com.

UPDATE: Games two and three of the series are both on Monday - the first game starts at 1:10 PM ET and game two will begin thirty minutes after the conclusion of game one.

More stories from the Mets series

Saturday's Braves vs Mets game is rained out; will become doubleheader in August

Takeaways from Atlanta's Rain-soaked Win over the Mets, 4-0

WATCH: Huge top of the fifth inning for the Braves vs the New York Mets

Biggest Key for Atlanta Braves to Beat the New York Mets

BREAKING: Michael Harris activated from injured list; will rejoin team for Mets series

Braves Briefing: Are the New York Mets scared of the Atlanta Braves?

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