Braves record vs. worst of the worst will be what keeps them out of the postseason

It's safe to say that the 2024 campaign has not gone the way that the Atlanta Braves had hoped or expected it to. They entered the season with World Series aspirations, and rightfully so, but injuries and an underperforming offense have tormented them all year. Now, after falling in their series opener against the Cincinnati Reds, the Braves are 81-70 on the year, 2.0 games back of the New York Mets for the third Wild Card spot as of this writing.

There's still time for Atlanta to turn things around and get back to the postseason for a seventh consecutive year, but FanGraphs gives them just 47.8 percent odds to get to October. The three teams they're chasing for Wild Card spots all have 67 percent odds or better according to FanGraphs as of this writing.

Many things are to blame for Atlanta's demise in 2024, but nobody deserves more blame than themselves, and Tuesday's game proved that. The Braves held a 5-2 lead through five innings against the 73-78 Reds with their elite bullpen ready to go. Their offense failed to tack on runs and their bullpen blew the lead in what turned out to be a 6-5 loss at Great American Ballpark.

That loss inconceivably dropped the Braves to 0-4 against this Reds team that is eight games under .500 against the other 28 teams. To make matters worse, the Reds aren't the only subpar team that the Braves have struggled to beat.

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Braves have nobody to blame but themselves if they miss the postseason

The injuries have absolutely played a role and cannot be ignored, but even with the injuries, the Braves have found ways to beat good teams. They took five of seven against the Diamondbacks. They swept the Astros. They won series against the Guardians and Yankees. They even won the season series against the Phillies. Their play against subpar competition has lagged all season long, and it's impossible to comprehend.

The Braves are now 6-14 against the Reds, Chicago White Sox, and Washington Nationals. All three of those teams are among the worst in all of baseball, and the White Sox might end up with the worst record in MLB history. On the flip side, the team that they're chasing, the Mets, are 16-4 against those teams and will eye a sweep of the Nationals likely without Francisco Lindor on Wednesday, proving that even short-handed they can beat bad teams.

Atlanta's play against these subpar teams is the difference between them sitting comfortably in postseason positioning and them fighting an uphill battle to get back to October.

It's good that Atlanta can play well against the good teams, as that will help them in October, but they can't get to October if they can't seal the deal against subpar competition. Again, injuries have to be mentioned, and the Braves probably have a postseason spot clinched by now if they were healthy, but the injuries do not excuse them from losing to the worst of the worst, and that's the fault of the entire team, at the end of the day.