On Wednesday, June 1, the New York Mets had a 10.5-game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the NL East division.
They seemed destined to run away with the division at the time.
Little did they know that the Braves had other plans.
Since June, the Braves have been a top-three team in MLB, perhaps the best together with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
After sweeping their weekend series, the Braves are currently up two games in the NL East and, barring something unexpected, virtually locked up the division and the first-round bye.
It’s not that the Mets collapsed, because they have been good, too.
Atlanta Has Earned That First-Round Bye
It’s just that Atlanta has played at another level.
Not only the Braves are now in pole position to get that first-round bye, but they also reached 100 wins in the process.
“Most wins by defending World Series champ, divisional era (1969): 2021 Dodgers: 106; 2018 Astros: 103; 1990 A’s: 103; 1976 Reds: 102; 1971 Orioles: 101; ** 2022 Braves: 100 **; 1978 Yankees: 100,” MLB stats expert Sarah Langs tweeted.
Most wins by defending World Series champ, divisional era (1969):
2021 Dodgers: 106
2018 Astros: 103
1990 A's: 103
1976 Reds: 102
1971 Orioles: 101
** 2022 Braves: 100 **
1978 Yankees: 100 https://t.co/gmUanSGJYd— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) October 3, 2022
The Braves have a chance to increase their tally to 103 wins if they sweep their final series of the season.
In any case, it has been an amazing follow-up campaign after their 2021 World Series title.
The most impressive part is that they are doing it all without Freddie Freeman, the franchise icon for the last decade.
Other contributors have been injured a lot, such as Mike Soroka and Ozzie Albies.
The Braves’ 2022 campaign has been much, much better than their 2021 performance, at least in the regular season, as they won “just” 88 games.
Atlanta will be one of the strongest teams in the postseason, and look ready to fight with anyone to defend their title.
NEXT: The Braves Release A Hype Video For The Weekend