The Braves are off to the best start in the National League but they aren’t getting ahead of themselves in Atlanta.
Atlanta currently sits at 25-12 with a 6.5-game lead over the Marlins (19-19) and a seven-game lead over both the Mets and Phillies at 18-19 each.
Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos’ offseason moves and prior investments are paying off early on in Atlanta, but he isn’t taking that for granted.
Anthopoulos joined WEEI’s Rob Bradford on the Audacy Original Podcast “Baseball Isn’t Boring” and explained how he views the long baseball season, saying that it’s early until you get to August.
“Everyone says it's a long season and it really is. Whether you’re doing well or not doing well, for me, it’s early until you get to August. It really is,” Anthopoulos said (8:20 in player above). “I know that sounds crazy but there are a lot of games left. People think you get after the trade deadline and ‘Oh, the season’s pretty much done and over,’ but there are a lot of games left the last two months of the year and a lot can happen and a lot can change.”
A lot certainly can happen over the last few months, weeks, and even days of the season. The three-headed monster in the NL East saw that firsthand last year with the Mets blowing what felt like a season-long lead to the Braves, and the Phillies powering their way all the way to the World Series.
Anthopoulos and the rest of his staff take it day by day. That’s all you can do in a baseball season.
“We lock in every day. I don’t even look ahead at all. We’re worried about that day’s game, that series,” he said. “You might look a series ahead, maybe two series ahead, but I have no idea who we’re playing a month from now, two months from now, three months from now. No clue. We’re so locked in on the now and trying to win that night’s game and optimizing the roster and dealing with all kinds of things.”
The old saying goes that you can’t win a pennant in April but you can lose one.
The Braves were able to come back from a 10.5-game deficit on June 1st last year to take the NL East crown, so they’re not going to take their foot off the gas this season. There’s still a long way to go.
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