How Could Tropical Storm Helene Impact the Atlanta Braves' Playoff Race?

The Atlanta Braves' path to a postseason berth is projected to go right through the path of a hurricane.

The Atlanta Braves playoff race might have to plan its route around an impending hurricane. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Braves are in the midst of a final push for the playoffs. In a crazy turn of events, this road to the postseason is now expected to go through the path of a hurricane. 

Early Tuesday morning, Tropical Strom Helene formed in the Gulf of Mexico. There is a high possibility that the storm will strengthen into a hurricane. It is currently projected to make landfall in the Florida panhandle and move up towards Atlanta. The Fox 5 weather team projects the storm could hit as soon as Wednesday night with the brunt of it coming Thursday and Friday. It could last as late as Saturday. 

This would impact as many as four games remaining on the Braves' schedule. No plan for the week has been announced yet. 

Hurricane level forces going over Atlanta are highly unlikley. That’s a lot of ground to cover. But tropical depression-level weather could be enough for unplayable conditions.

These games need to be played, storm or not. That being said, it would be careless to put anyone in harm's way. 

Mets beat writer for Newsday Sports Tim Healey mentioned some possibilities on X (formerly Twitter). These are specifically for the Braves-Mets series. 

The Braves and Mets could try to squeeze in the series before the storm hits with a doubleheader on Wednesday. This assumes the storm doesn’t get to Atlanta until Thursday.

In theory, if the storm hits late enough on Wednesday night, they could also play as early as possible on Wednesday and go hunker down. However, this is extremely unlikely and ill-advised for safety reasons.

Another option is a makeup game on Monday, Sept. 30. The MLB postseason isn’t scheduled to start until Tuesday, Oct. 1. That leaves a one-day window to make up a game. It’s not ideal to play two games and then come back for a third, but whatever gets the games played. 

If one team is mathematically out of reach with a game to go, they can cancel the makeup game. 

So, that solves one series. The impact window still could cause troubles for the Royals series as well. 

There is the last resort of playing games at a neutral site. This has precedent. The Tampa Bay Rays played the New York Yankees at Citi Field due to Hurricane Irma in 2017. Earlier that same season, the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers played at Tropicana Field due to Hurricane Harvey.

But these weren’t being played in the final games of a playoff push. It’s doubtful the Braves want to give up playing at home in such high-leverage games. However, Mother Nature could make that decision for them. 

For the time being, the Atlanta Braves are set for a three-game series with the New York Mets in Atlanta. First pitch on Tuesday is set for 7:20 p.m.