The Braves are on the cusp of clinching a spot in the postseason as they attempt to win back-to-back World Series titles, but it remains to be seen if their path will begin as a wild card team or as the winner of the NL East. To Steak Shapiro, it doesn’t matter.
"Do I think it's imperative we the division? Absolutely not,” he said on Tuesday’s edition of The Steakhouse on 92.9 The Game.
If the Braves fail to supplant the Mets atop the division, they’d currently face the Padres in a three-game Wild Card series with a chance to face the Dodgers in the Divisional Round. Feeling confident that Max Fried and Kyle Wright give the Braves the upper hand in the series, Shapiro then shared his opinion that a matchup with the Dodgers doesn’t scare him thanks to Atlanta’s growth throughout the season.
“I’ll put our lineup up against the Dodgers..Of course, their record is spectacular, but if you look at the Braves in the last three and half months, we have the best record in baseball. So, April and May weren't perfect, it doesn’t matter. Michael Harris wasn’t even on the club. Spencer Strider was a bullpen guy in our mind. We have built a roster that is every bit as good as the Dodgers, I couldn’t care less that they have seven or eight more wins than you,” he said.
The Dodgers clinched the NL West Monday and secured home-field advantage during the postseason. The Braves trail the Mets, who clinched a playoff spot last night, by one game in the NL East and the division could be decided when New York travels to Truist Park in late September.
Whether it's the Mets, Dodgers, Padres, Cardinals or the Phillies, Shapiro feels that the Braves match up well with anyone that they may come across in what’s expected to be a high-powered NL playoff.
“Who the hell wants to play the Atlanta Braves—a team that already has the pedigree of winning a championship, has added pieces to the mix and is poised now with guys getting back, and now Ronald Acuna hopefully feeling better, to go into a postseason, I think as the favorites alongside the Dodgers, and I don’t care whether we win the division or not.”
The Braves continue their push toward the playoffs tonight with the Nationals.
