Exclusive | How Braves’ decision for Mets series set up nightmare scenario with Hurricane Helene bearing down

ATLANTA — For reasons of business, logistics and perhaps gamesmanship, the Braves did not want to shift start times, days or locations for their series against the Mets despite forecasts that made it iffy to play Wednesday night and even less likely to play a three-game series finale Thursday night. 

MLB could have overridden any desire of either team and forced different logistics for the games and did not. 

Thus, now the teams and MLB are in the path of a different kind of storm that will raise questions about fairness, logistics and more – and potentially worsen embarrassment for the league for not being more proactive to get these games played when it was becoming clearer and clearer what the impact of Tropical Storm Helene could be. 

MLB had been holding out hope that enough pockets would become available to play Wednesday, but the forecast and conditions worsened and late Wednesday afternoon both Wednesday and Thursday’s games were postponed. A doubleheader is now scheduled for Monday at 1:10 p.m. at Truist Park. That is the day after what was supposed to be the end of the regular season and the day before the wild-card round of the playoffs. 

The uncomfortable permutations are many, including: 

–The Mets and Braves play 18 innings Monday in Atlanta and one might have to fly to Los Angeles, San Diego or Milwaukee to begin the playoffs the next day to begin a best-of-three that is scheduled over consecutive days – it was not determined yet if Game 1 could be moved to Wednesday to accommodate a team advancing into the tournament after playing Monday. 

Thus, 18 innings on Monday at full throttle, a flight (perhaps to the West Coast) and having exhausted players trying to recalibrate for a playoff series. It also would force at least one higher-seeded team (maybe more depending on seeding) to wait until the night before to know its opponent. 

–The Mets or the Braves finish the weekend knowing they are in the playoffs, but the other does not and neither does the Diamondbacks. Now, the Mets and Braves would have to come back for one or two games on Monday and the team that already clinched a playoff spot will have no incentive whatsoever to play its best players or go hard in the game – while the Diamondbacks watch helplessly from afar. 

It is at the commissioner’s discretion to decide: 1. Whether the games have to be played Monday if there is no playoff implications to satisfy the integrity of the 162-game schedule. But the Mets were under the belief, in that scenario, games would not be played. 2. If the games have to be played if the Diamondbacks are eliminated over the weekend and only seeding is in play. The Braves currently lead the season series against the Mets, which is the tiebreaker to determine the higher seed. 3. If the nightcap of a doubleheader must be played if the playoffs are clarified in the opener. 

Remember that in some ways this trouble all began on April 10 when a game was rained out at Truist Park that the Mets did not think needed to be postponed. The Mets, however, then did not want to return for a single game on a mutual off-day during the season and asked that it be tacked on to when they returned again to Atlanta. 

For all involved that unfortunately coincided with Helene. Georgia governor Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency Tuesday to brace for the storm. 

Spokespeople for MLB, the Braves and the Mets all offered no comment on how this point was reached. 

But background conversations with involved personnel indicated that basically the Braves were expecting large attendance for the three games (it was 40,103 at Truist Park for Tuesday’s series opener, won 5-1 by Atlanta) and did not want to forego the gates nor work through the logistics of moving personnel such as security, concessionaires, etc. to other dates or start times. The Braves start their home games at 7:20 p.m. not earlier, for example, because there is a flow problem to get people in and out of The Battery area after the standard workday and before a game. 

The two teams had a common off-day on Monday. The weather was such that a doubleheader could have been played Tuesday. The Mets pitched the idea of moving up the start time Wednesday before the forecast worsened. In the most drastic move, the series could have been relocated to an empty park not under threat of the storm, such as in Texas. 

But MLB did not force a change of any type and simply hoped that the forecast would become more favorable. The league had a much easier decision in moving the start time of Tuesday’s Rays-Tigers game from 6:40 p.m. to 1:10 p.m. because both teams approved of the change. It helps that the Rays are not in contention and the two teams are not in the same division. 

The Mets and Braves are in the NL East, battling for a playoff spot with one possibly missing altogether and do not exactly have great love for each other. Thus, the Mets have certainly wondered about gamesmanship here. At the least, the Braves do not have to leave Atlanta over the weekend when the Royals are in town or Monday if the doubleheader is needed. The Mets were planning to fly to Milwaukee on Thursday, might have to return to Atlanta for the doubleheader and – in the best scenario – would be heading elsewhere for the playoffs.