Weather postponement of Mets-Braves series could loom large over Brewers postseason opponent

Hurricane Helene has wreaked some early havoc on the National League playoff picture, and the Milwaukee Brewers may not know their postseason opponent until 24 hours before the wild-card series begins at American Family Field on Tuesday.

The final two games of a pivotal weekday series between the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets have been postponed by the weather, with the tentative plan to make up the games Monday as part of a doubleheader, though only if the games have bearing on the postseason picture.

It's hard to imagine a situation where they won't. Heading into Wednesday, the Mets (87-70) are just a half-game ahead of the Diamondbacks (87-71) for the second wild-card spot, with the Braves (86-71) a half-game behind Arizona for the third. Two of those teams will make the playoffs; one won't.

Atlanta defeated the Mets on Tuesday to get back into clear reach of a playoff spot. The Braves (and Mets) both own the tiebreaker against the Diamondbacks.

The difference between No. 2 and No. 3 wild cards also matters. The No. 2 wild card will almost certainly head to San Diego for the wild-card series, while the No. 3 will play in Milwaukee.

There remains a slim chance that the Brewers bypass the Phillies or Dodgers for one of the two best records in the National League, meaning they'd get to skip the wild-card round and advance straight to the National League Division Series on Oct. 5. More likely, the playoff journey will begin Oct. 1.

The Mets will now head to Milwaukee for the regular-season finale series, beginning Friday. With the new schedule, the format would call for the Mets to travel from Atlanta to Milwaukee to Atlanta and potentially back to Milwaukee over a tight window.

The slumping Diamondbacks, who have lost three straight after losing an 8-0 lead against Milwaukee on Sunday, play one more game at home against San Francisco on Wednesday night, followed by three games at home against San Diego.

The Braves are scheduled to host Kansas City for three games over the weekend while the Mets face the Brewers.

Monday is designed as an off-day for all teams before all four wild-card series begin Tuesday in a best-of-three format throughout the rest of the week. The Brewers, if competing in that round of the playoffs, will host all three games.

The Brewers faced a situation like this in 2023, when a New York rainout threatened to complicate the playoff picture but ultimately did not factor.

Why didn't the Braves relocate games to avoid the hurricane?

According to the New York Post , the Braves did not want to shift start times or dates of the final two games because they did not want to lose the opportunity for games with considerable attendance. That included scrapping the idea of playing two games yesterday when the weather was clear.

Could MLB force the teams to play in another venue for the logistics of the postseason?

Yes, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has the right to compel the teams to play the game at another venue or at another time but did not force Atlanta's hand in this case.

It's also up to MLB whether or not it will play the final two games at all; it presumably would elect to skip them if they have no bearing on the playoff picture. But it's unlikely that both games will be meaningless.

What if the only thing that matters is whether the team is the No. 2 or No. 3 wild card?

Here's an interesting scenario; what if the games don't have any bearing on which teams make the postseason but do have some bearing on which team is the No. 2 or the No. 3 wild card, with Arizona factoring into that picture, as well.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post said if the Diamondbacks have been eliminated over the weekend and the Mets and Braves have not yet settled seeding, Manfred could elect to skip the games and essentially take the standings as-is.

But there are still many scenarios for which that does not speak, including one in which one team is still alive jockeying for position with the Diamondbacks, while the other is already eliminated.

When will the doubleheader between the Mets and Braves take place?

It's scheduled for 12:10 p.m. CT on Monday.

When do the Brewers play their first playoff game?

The playoff schedule is unsettled, and the Brewers could play in any number of time slots Tuesday, but it stands to reason if it's going to play a team involved in a Monday doubleheader that the Tuesday game will be later in the schedule, probably at night.

The Brewers, presuming no stunning rally for a first-round bye, will play again Wednesday in an as-yet undetermined time slot, then Thursday if necessary.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Weather postponement of Mets-Braves series could loom large over Brewers postseason opponent