Race to the finish: Taking a look at the National League Wild Card Race

We're getting down to the nitty-gritty, and I am not talking about the dirt band. The Atlanta Braves played well enough that they don't have to worry about playing in a Wild Card game, but they will face one of these teams in the NLDS. So, we are going to take a look at who the Braves could match up against.

Last week, the assumption was that it would either be the Philadelphia Phillies or the Chicago Cubs. That has now changed. The Cubs played a three-game series against the Diamondbacks starting last Friday and Arizona swept the Cubs. So Arizona has now moved up into the No. 5 seed. If the season ended today, the Phillies would play the Diamondbacks and the winner would play the Braves.

On the other side of the bracket, the Milwaukee Brewers are leading the NL Central. That would give them the No. 3 seed in the playoffs. The Brew Crew are six games ahead of the Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds. Milwaukee finishes the season with a three-game series against Chicago so it could all come down to that.

As I mentioned, the Reds are tied with the Cubs for a wild card spot and there are two more teams that are right on their heels. The Florida Marlins are only 0.5 games back from that Wild Card spot and the San Francisco Giants are 2.0 games back from that spot. The Marlins are coming off a massive sweep against the Braves. Their last three series are against the Brewers, Mets, and Pirates. That is favorable for them.

The Giants have a tough final few series as they play the Diamondbacks, Dodgers, and Padres. They will have to play well in the gauntlet to make it out alive. The Reds final few series are with the Twins, the Pirates, the Guardians, and the Cardinals. They are in the same boat as Miami. Their schedule is not bad.

The Cubs finish the year against the Pirates, Rockies, Braves, and Brewers. Those final two series will be crucial if the Cubs want to make the playoffs. The Diamondbacks finish the year against the Giants, Yankees, White Sox, and Astros. Their schedule difficulty is not the easiest, but it is not as bad as the Giants.

Now for the Phillies, Philly is currently the No. 4 seed in the Wild Card race and they are 4.0 games ahead of the cut-off, so they have a bit of a buffer. That does not mean they are safe, though. The Phillies finish the season with the Braves, Mets, and Pirates. I think they will win enough to make it into the playoffs, but they could have a meltdown. Anything can happen in baseball.

In conclusion, Atlanta could play the Brewers, Phillies, Cubs, Reds, Diamondbacks, Marlins, or Giants in the NLDS. Thanks to the Brewers, Atlanta will have home-field advantage in the NLDS no matter what. I mentioned the Braves could play the Brewers because whoever wins the NL Central will get the No. 3 seed. Milwaukee has not secured that yet.

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