With the division already clinched, there wasn’t much for the Atlanta Braves to play for entering the final week of the regular season.
But with their two losses in the Reds series locking the Braves into the No. 3 seed and no first-round bye, there’s really nothing to play for in this weekend’s final regular-season series at the Miami Marlins, which begins Friday at 7:10 p.m. EDT.
Nothing Atlanta can do will have any effect on anything in terms of the postseason. This series is just about lining up the pitching, which began with expected Game 1 and Game 2 starters Chris Sale and Tyler Mahle starting the final two games of the Reds series.
The important stuff will be happening elsewhere, with the Phillies entering their final regular-season series against the Tampa Bay Rays currently positioned to head to Atlanta for the best-of-three wild-card series.
However, the Phillies are capable of both climbing up past Chicago or San Diego or falling out of the playoffs, bringing a two-game lead over the Diamondbacks for the final NL wild-card spot entering this weekend.
That lack of importance of this series is certainly evident in the Braves waiting until past 2:30 EDT to announce that left-hander Ray Kerr (0-0, 1.76 ERA) will start what will be a bullpen game in Friday’s series opener.
Kerr has been effective in a small sample size this season, giving up just two runs over eight relief appearances spanning 15 1/3 innings. One of those runs came in his last appearance last weekend at Houston. This will be just his third career start after the two he made with the Braves in 2024. He’s maxed out at 35 pitches this season for the major league club, putting a likely cap of two or three innings on his start.
The Marlins are using a traditional starter in right-hander Eury Pérez (7-11, 4.14) getting the ball. This will be Pérez’s third time facing the Braves this season, posting an 0-1 record and 7.00 ERA through the first two starts. In his career, he’s 0-3 with a 9.78 ERA against Atlanta.
Even if there isn’t anything in the way of stakes in this series, it’s still an important time for the lineup to find its form as it looks to win its first postseason series since the 2021 World Series next week in Atlanta.
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