The Atlanta Braves are, in the words of FanSided's Adam Weinrib, "a machine."
At 90-46, the Braves are currently the only 90-win team in baseball. With eight All-Stars on the roster and a couple of bonafide MVP candidates in Ronald Acuña Jr. and Matt Olson, not to mention a Cy Young candidate in Spencer Strider, it's easy to feel like the Braves are immortal.
That isn't true, of course, and with October on the horizon, there's more pressure than ever for the Braves to stave off mortality. Atlanta is the consensus favorite to win the World Series — there isn't a deeper, more balanced, or more talented group in the MLB — but the postseason is tricky. Even the best teams are susceptible to bad luck.
In a recent appearance on 'The Baseball Insiders' podcast, Braves legend Tom Glavine gave his thoughts on which MLB teams might actually pose a threat to the Braves' title hopes.
Tom Glavine dishes on Atlanta Braves' biggest postseason threats
Glavine starts with the National League, and he points out a familiar foe: the Dodgers. The interview was recorded before the recent four-game series between Atlanta and Los Angeles, in which the Braves won three games out of four.
"The Dodgers are playing really good," said Glavine. "They seem to be finding themselves. They're going to be a tough team."
Then, the Hall of Fame pitcher moves on to the American League competition in a potential World Series matchup.
"Houston's always tough," said Glavine. The Braves beat the Astros in the 2021 World Series, but Houston has been back to the mountaintop since then. The Astros toppled the Braves' division rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies, last November.
Glavine continued. "The Texas Rangers have a really good club this year." No argument there — Texas is one game behind Houston in the crowded AL West. Texas spent a fortune to acquire a new cavalry of pitchers at the trade deadline, forming argubaly the strongest collection of hurlers in the MLB.
Then, the stinger: "I think the Baltimore Orioles are the best team in baseball that nobody knows anything about," opined Glavine. "Myself included. I could not tell you one guy in their starting lineup, I just know they're good."
That is a pretty perfect encapsulation of the Orioles' season. Baltimore holds the best record in the American League at 86-51, separating the club from a very talented pool of AL East teams. If one was to play the numbers, Atlanta vs. Baltimore is the World Series matchup to watch out for.
Glavine also dives into the nuances of postseason baseball and how a couple of bad innings can spiral into a devastating series loss. The Braves are the best team in baseball, but that doesn't mean they can get complacent.
All four of the teams mentioned are viable threats — Los Angeles, Houston, Texas, Baltimore — and Glavine doesn't even touch on the NL West-leading Seattle Mariners or the Braves' red-hot division rivals (and reigning NL champs) in Philadelphia. The Braves are good, but so are a number of other teams.
In the end, Glavine still predicts a Braves World Series. We will see if he's prescient, or if his warnings come to pass.
