As the playoffs approach and the Phillies, Dodgers and Cardinals can start to relax one thing is for certain, their eyes will be keen on the success of the Rockies the next six days. Why? Because I guarantee that none of them really want to play the Braves in the playoffs. The Braves are on fire now. They sport by far the deepest rotation in the National League right now and perhaps all of baseball. Jair Jurrjens is a bonafied ace. Tommy Hanson is a burgeoning superstar in the making. Derek Lowe is a veteran with ample post season experience. Javier Vasquez is having arguably the best season of his career. Hell even Tim Hudson has pitched well since battling back from offseason surgery. The rotation is stacked and deep, and in a 5 or 7 game series they will be very very difficult to beat.
The problem is, they only have six days to make up the ground on Colorado. After last night the Braves have surged to within two games of the Rockies and if the season lasted more than just this week, I'd put my money on the Braves surpassing Colorado. But again, they must rely on other teams to beat the Rockies this week and well some teams might not be motivated. Like say the Dodgers.
The Dodgers in fact have some control over this playoff scenario. On friday the Dodgers embark on a 3 game series against the Rockies. Lack of Motivation #1: At this point they will likely have clinched the NL West and will be resting and prepping for the postseason. Lack of Motivation #2: In addition if they go out and beat the Rockies and help the Braves get into the playoffs, it might not be to their advantage to play them rather than the Phillies or Cards.
So while the Braves are the hottest team and quite possibly the most dangerous team in baseball right now, they just might be too little too late.
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