Atlanta Braves Wild Card Standings: What are the Braves chances?

Given where we are in the 2024 season and the Phillies dominant control of the NL East, let's look at the race for the NL Wild Card Spots. Below is the current standings as of September 19th of where the Braves stand in the wild card chase. Note  

Team	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	AWAY	RS	RA	DIFF	STRK	L10
San Diego Padres	87	66	.569	+2.5	42-36	45-30	726	636	+90	W1	6-4
New York Mets	84	68	.553	0	43-34	41-34	730	646	+84	W3	6-4
Arizona Diamondbacks	84	68	.553	0	42-33	42-35	835	742	+93	W1	5-5
Atlanta Braves	82	70	.539	2.5	42-33	40-37	653	580	+73	W1	5-5
St. Louis Cardinals	77	75	.507	7	42-35	35-40	624	680	-56	W3	5-5
Chicago Cubs	75	75	.507	7	39-35	36-40	698	635	+63	L2	5-5

Atlanta Braves Wild Card Standings: What are the Braves chances?

In Major League Baseball (MLB), three teams from each league (American League and National League) qualify for the playoffs as wild card teams. These wild card teams are the ones with the best records in their league that did not win their division. In total, 12 teams make the playoffs — three division winners and three wild card teams from each league

What is the Wild Card Format?

The wild card teams are ranked as the #4, #5, and #6 seeds based on their regular-season records. The team with the best record among the wild card qualifiers (#4 seed) hosts a best-of-three Wild Card Series against the #5 seed. Meanwhile, the #6 seed plays against the division winner with the third-best record (#3 seed) in the league. The higher-seeded teams host all games in the best-of-three series.

This format, which was introduced in 2022, ensures that more teams have a chance to compete for the championship, making the playoff race tighter and more exciting, especially in the final weeks of the regular season. 

How Does This iImpact the Braves Chances of Making Wild Card?

For the Atlanta Braves, finishing with one of the top three wild card spots is critical to their postseason hopes. As the wild card race intensifies, even a few games could determine whether the Braves make the playoffs and which seed they secure. Every win and loss affects the standings, and with multiple teams competing for three wild card spots, the race is expected to come down to the wire.

Currently, the Braves are in the thick of the National League wild card chase, battling teams like the San Diego Padres, New York Mets, and Arizona Diamondbacks for one of the three wild card positions. Their performance in the remaining regular-season games will ultimately decide their fate.

For Baseball Nerds: History of the Wild Card

As many of the new changes that we thought we would hate (the pitch clock, forced balanced alignment in infield), the Wild Card was not a popular idea early on. In fact, when Major League Baseball first introduced the Wild Card in 1995, it sparked a heated debate across the sport. Purists decried it as a dilution of the game’s proud tradition, where only the best—the division winners—were rewarded with postseason glory. But in the decades since its inception, the Wild Card has not only survived, it has thrived, fundamentally reshaping the playoff landscape and delivering some of the most thrilling moments in baseball history.

In its original form, the Wild Card allowed just one non-division-winning team per league to enter the postseason, making it possible for teams with strong records, yet stuck behind a dominant division leader, to have a chance at October glory. While initially viewed with skepticism, the Wild Card quickly proved its worth. The 1997 Florida Marlins, for instance, became the first Wild Card team to win the World Series, capturing the imagination of fans and showing the unpredictability and excitement this new playoff wrinkle could bring.

Over the years, the Wild Card continued to fuel some of the most compelling playoff races. Teams that might have folded in September with nothing left to play for now had a lifeline, leading to nail-biting finishes, last-minute comebacks, and stunning Cinderella stories. Perhaps no Wild Card moment was more emblematic of this drama than Game 162 in 2011, when the Tampa Bay Rays, trailing by seven runs in the final game of the season, stormed back to win and claim a Wild Card spot in a walk-off victory. The playoff chase had become theater of the highest order, with Wild Card races driving must-watch drama across multiple divisions.

Yet, as time marched on, MLB continued to tinker with the Wild Card format. In 2012, the league introduced a second Wild Card team, setting up a winner-take-all, single-elimination Wild Card Game to determine who advanced to the Division Series. This move, seen as radical at the time, added even more tension to the playoff chase. The Wild Card Game instantly became a marquee event, with the one-and-done format creating moments of pure intensity. One need look no further than Madison Bumgarner's historic shutout in the 2014 Wild Card Game, a performance that set the tone for the San Francisco Giants’ World Series run that year. The game was a perfect distillation of what the Wild Card had come to symbolize: opportunity, unpredictability, and unforgettable drama.

The most recent change, enacted in 2022, further expanded the Wild Card format, with three Wild Card teams from each league now making the playoffs. The introduction of a best-of-three Wild Card Series replaced the single-elimination format, giving higher-seeded teams the advantage of playing all games at home. This shift was seen as a way to balance the competitiveness of the playoffs while rewarding regular-season success. The expanded Wild Card has transformed the end of the regular season, with more teams staying in contention deeper into September, fueling hope and excitement for fan bases across the league.

Critics of the Wild Card have, of course, not entirely disappeared. Some argue that allowing more teams into the postseason diminishes the importance of the regular season, or that it has watered down the exclusivity of October baseball. But there’s no denying the energy it has injected into the sport. Teams now have a reason to fight until the final pitch, knowing that even a third-place finish in a division could lead to a World Series title. For fans, the Wild Card has provided some of the most indelible moments in recent baseball history, turning underdog teams into champions and delivering must-see drama year after year.

Looking back on the history of the Wild Card, it’s hard to imagine MLB without it. What started as a controversial addition has grown into an integral part of the modern game. In today’s baseball world, the Wild Card is not merely a backdoor into the playoffs—it’s often the beginning of an unforgettable journey. And as the game continues to evolve, the Wild Card will remain a key driver of baseball’s greatest narrative: the race for October.