The Atlanta Braves were eliminated from the postseason on Wednesday, dropping Game 2 to the San Diego Padres. The Braves, the final team to qualify for the playoffs, will now head home for the winter following a frustrating year.
After consecutive 100-win efforts, the Braves entered the spring primed to compete for their seventh consecutive division title and their second World Series championship in four years. When we previewed the Braves back in the spring, we concluded they were in the rarefied air where they could proclaim it was “World Series or bust” and mean it. All these months later, we can declare it a bust for the 2024 Braves.
Atlanta still won 89 games and made it into the tournament. It wasn’t easy and it often wasn’t pretty. The Braves needed all 162 to get in, finishing the year with a 36-31 second-half …