MLB Playoff Picture 2022: Braves in Shape to Win World Series After Sweeping Mets

The Atlanta Braves delivered a statement to rest of Major League Baseball with their three-game sweep of the New York Mets.

The reigning World Series champion launched itself to the top of the National League East standings with the three victories.

Atlanta holds a two-game lead on the Mets with three games left in the regular season. One win or one Mets loss will lock up the NL East crown and a bye into the divisional series for the Braves.

Every ounce of Atlanta's three-game sweep proved it could compete with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros and New York Yankees in any potential postseason series.

Atlanta took wins off Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt, the trio that will likely form the Mets' playoff rotation, received clutch hits from its best players and had its bullpen thrive in the back end of games.

The Braves hit three home runs against deGrom on Friday night. Dansby Swanson, Austin Riley and Matt Olson provided the solo shots that served as a warning for what was to come for the rest of the series.

Swanson and Olson homered off Scherzer on Saturday and Swanson took Bassitt deep in the first inning of Sunday's series finale.

Swanson entered the series with three home runs and six hitless games between Sept. 13 and 28. He had more than one RBI in two games over that 15-day span.

Olson experienced his worst month of the plate before getting hot against the Mets. The first baseman finished September with a .169 batting average and .591 OPS. His two home runs to start October made up half the home run total he recorded in September.

Atlanta needed Swanson and Olson to get on track at the plate to have any chance of going deep in the postseason. Now it has five players with five or more hits in the last seven days. Swanson, Olson and leadoff man Ronald Acuna Jr. are three of those players.

Atlanta's lineup has been lauded as one of the deepest in the league all season. Michael Harris II and Vaughn Grissom seamlessly transitioned into the offense and have become vital cogs in the bottom half of the order. Grissom's success has been more important because he has filled the role of the injured Ozzie Albies at second base.

The Atlanta bats totaled 14 runs on 24 hits against the Mets and proved that they could achieve success against any of the top pitchers in the game. The performances against deGrom and Scherzer could fuel the team's confidence if they go up against the likes of Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole if a deep postseason run happens.

Max Fried, Kyle Wright and Charlie Morton did enough to keep the Mets lineup at bay before the bullpen took over in each contest. Fried made his case to be a Game 1 starter by producing his 10th straight start with two earned runs or fewer.

Wright, a 21-game winner, scattered seven hits and gave up two earned runs in five innings. Morton gutted through a 4.1-inning outing in which he gave up two solo home runs.

Fried, Wright and Morton may have more importance attached to their roles in the postseason because rookie phenom Spencer Strider is on the injured list with an oblique injury.

Atlanta's wins over the Mets should allow it to celebrate its fifth straight division title in Miami. That could happen as early as Monday.

Securing the No. 2 seed is vital for the Braves to make a deep push into the postseason. They will avoid the best-of-three wild-card series and land on the opposite side of the bracket as the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Atlanta would play the winner of the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies if the season had ended Sunday. Philadelphia's magic number to clinch the final wild-card spot is one.

Atlanta went 4-3 against St. Louis and 11-8 versus Philadelphia. The NL East leader lost one series to Philadelphia and dropped two of three in St. Louis in August. A potential matchup with Philadelphia or St. Louis beats the prospect of dealing with the pitching staffs of the Dodgers, Mets and San Diego Padres before the NLCS.

Brian Snitker's team is on the easier side of the NL playoff bracket, and whichever team emerges from the other side could be tired from a five-game battle in the divisional series. The Mets or Padres could play eight games before even reaching the NLCS.

Atlanta does not have home-field advantage if it plays the Dodgers in a third straight NLCS, but the experience of playing in Dodger Stadium and against the NL West champion's deep roster could help if it gets that far.

In one weekend, Atlanta went from having to play three playoff series to get to the World Series to a likely division winner and on the easier side of the NL postseason bracket.

Atlanta still has to win its postseason games, but it could not have asked for a better setup when it comes to matchups and the emotional boost it earned from sweeping the Mets.