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Tracking NL East standings heading into final weekend of 2022 regular season

The Mets and Braves enter Wednesday tied for first place in the division. The two teams play a three-game series over the weekend. We’re tracking the results.

By Benjamin Zweiman
Michael Harris II, Robbie Grossman, and Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Atlanta Braves react after their 3-2 win over the New York Mets at Truist Park on August 18, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Entering the final weekend of the 2022 MLB regular season, we have a good idea of which teams will be in the playoffs this year. The thing that isn’t so clear is which teams will get which seeding, particularly in the National League. In the NL East, the defending champion Atlanta Braves are vying to overtake the New York Mets for first place in the division. The Mets have seemingly led all season long while the Braves have been chasing while dealing with injuries.

NL East standings

  1. New York Mets (98-58) —
  2. Atlanta Braves (97-59) — 1.0 GB
  3. Philadelphia Phillies (83-70) 13 GB

Weather could impact the series between the Mets and Braves in Georgia with Hurricane Ian hitting Florida and expected to travel north. As of now, the edge has to go to the Mets based on pitching matchups. Chris Bassitt is expected to start the series off followed by Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer. The Braves have Max Fried, Kyle Wright and Charlie Morton, which also isn’t too shabby. Still, the Mets may have the best starting pitching in all of baseball.

The Mets will be without OF Starling Marte, who is dealing with a finger fracture. The Braves have a healthy starting lineup, nothing new on the injury front. Spencer Strider hit the injured list and 2B Ozzie Albies remains out, but that’s about it. So we should see a playoff-like series if all goes according to plan.

As of Wednesday on DraftKings Sportsbook, the Mets are favored to win the NL East at -170 while the Braves are +140. It feels like that has more to do with the pitching than anything else. If you look at the schedule, the Mets and Braves each play the Marlins and Nationals to finish the season. So really, pretty easy series to wrap things up. With that, taking the Braves at those odds isn’t a bad idea. It should be a relatively even series. The thing is the tiebreaker, which the Mets currently own.

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