Mets’ loose grip on NL East gets more precarious with Braves promotion

For much of the season, the NL East has felt like a two-horse race between the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies. The Atlanta Braves are out to try and prove that they shouldn't be forgotten about, though. They won each of the first two games of their series against the Mets this week, and their latest roster move has put them in a position to make things even more uncomfortable for New York.

The Braves have promoted Didier Fuentes, an exciting pitching prospect with limited upper-minors experience, to the majors. He's set to start Friday's game against the Miami Marlins in what will be his MLB debut.

That move might not impact the Mets directly, since Fuentes is being brought up to face the Marlins, but the fallout from the move absolutely impacts the Mets in a big way.

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Braves roster move forces Mets to face a pitcher they haven't touched

Originally, the Braves were scheduled to use Bryce Elder, Grant Holmes, and Spencer Schwellenbach against the Marlins this weekend. The Fuentes promotion figures to push everyone back a day, ensuring that Schwellenbach will face the Mets at Citi Field on Monday instead.

I'm not here to say Fuentes didn't deserve to be promoted to the majors. He has really good stuff, and looked great in his Triple-A debut. It does feel, though, as if this move was a way to push Schwellenbach back a day so he could face the Mets, a team they're chasing, instead of the Marlins, the last-place team in the NL East.

Schwellenbach is not only a budding star, but he's also owned the Mets over the course of his career. He has a 1.93 ERA in four starts and 28 innings of work against New York in his career, and he allowed four runs in seven innings against them in his last time out. Obviously, the Braves would love to get Schwellenbach matched up against the Mets as often as they conceivably can, and this roster move gave them that flexibility.

Braves roster move could give Mets sense of Déjà vu

This move pushed everyone currently in Atlanta's rotation back a day. This includes the guys who were already supposed to skip the Marlins series. This means that even Chris Sale, a pitcher who was originally supposed to start on Monday, will now get an extra day of rest. That will give the Mets a sense of Déjà vu.

Sale was originally not supposed to face the Mets in Atlanta, but the Mets pushed his start back by an additional three days to ensure he'd face the team they're chasing. Sale, predictably, dominated New York, coming just one out shy of a complete-game shutout. He isn't going to get as much rest this time around, but an extra day should help him be perfectly fresh, especially after he threw 116 pitches on Wednesday.

The challenge of beating the Braves is tough enough for the Mets, but this roster move made it much tougher.

Braves can't be counted out of NL East race

I think this is the big takeaway here. The Mets had a chance to completely bury the Braves and failed to do so. They entered their current series with a 13.0-game lead over Atlanta, but allowed the Braves to win each of the first two games, trimming the deficit to 11.0 games. Now, there's another game to be played on Thursday, and a four-game series set to take place in Queens just days from now. In an eye blink, the lead can easily shrink to six or seven games.

The Braves are managing their pitching as if they're in the thick of the race, and if we're being honest, that's exactly how they should be treated by teams like the Mets and the Phillies. The Braves are immensely talented, and have the ability to make things uncomfortable in an already tight NL East race.