Weather could throw a wrench into the Royals/Braves series this weekend

Hurricane Helene could impact the final week of the season.

The Royals and Braves are both fighting for their playoff lives, and are scheduled to clash this weekend in Atlanta. But this is hurricane season, and the weather could have a major impact on the final week of the season. Hurricane Helene is expected to hit Florida on Thursday, but the storm is already bringing heavy rains to Georgia.

The Braves are hosting the Mets Wednesday and Thursday in a critical series. The Mets are currently the second Wild Card team, with the Diamondbacks a half game back as the third Wild Card, and the Braves a half game back of the Diamondbacks.

The Braves are scheduled to throw their two best pitchers against the Mets - Chris Sale on Wednesday and Max Fried on Thursday. But if those games get postponed to Monday, the Braves will have a decision to make. They could push Sale and Fried to the weekend series against the Royals. Those games are critical - the Braves could be eliminated with a bad series against the Royals while the Diamondbacks host the Padres and the Mets travel to Milwaukee to face the Brewers.

On the other hand, the Braves also desperately need to beat the Mets. They currently have a 6-5 edge on the season series against them, and would need to keep that edge to have the tiebreaker if the two teams end up with identical records. Would they push Sale and Fried all the way to Monday, when the two teams could potentially play a doubleheader that day to decide who advances to the Wild Card round on Tuesday?

Sale has been the best pitcher in baseball, according to fWAR, with a 2.38 ERA and 18 wins, while Fried hasn’t been much worse with a 3.42 ERA and 3 fWAR. The Royals can make this all moot by winning the last two games of the Nationals series and clinching a playoff spot if the Twins lose two more games. But there is a good chance there will be something for them to play for in the Braves series. If the Royals avoid Sale and Fried, the most likely starters for the weekend series are 40-year-old curveball artist Charlie Morton and rookies Spencer Schwellenbach and Grant Holmes. And that’s if the Royals and Braves are able to avoid precipitation in their series. With the way the Royals are hitting lately, perhaps it doesn’t matter who is on the mound?

Of course, with severe weather like this the utmost concern is for everyone’s safety and wellbeing. But there is a chance for some real chaos in the final week of the baseball season.

September 25, 4:22 p.m. update: The remainder of the Mets/Braves series has been rescheduled to a doubleheader Monday.