The Braves-Mets Rivalry: A Brutal Beatdown

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

June 10, 2023

The Atlanta Braves and New York Mets are bitter rivals in the NL East. It may be one of the most exciting divisions in baseball when it is competitive. However, over the years, can you consider this hatred a rivalry? The Braves entered the NL East from the NL West in 1994. The realignment period put them with the Mets, who have been in the division since its’ creation in 1969. The current division makeup is five teams: the Miami Marlins, Washington Nationals, Philidelphia Phillies, New York Mets, and Atlanta Braves. So what makes the Braves and Mets rivals?

The Braves-Mets Rivalry; A Current Synopsis

The Braves and Mets look like a two-horse race in the 2023 season. Steve Cohen added the highest payroll in the 2023 season, with a $345 million payroll to the entire roster. That’s the highest payroll by almost $66 million. The Mets retooled by adding 2022 ERA leader Justin Verlander, Japanese sensation Kodai Senga, and re-signing names such as Edwin Diaz and Brandon Nimmo to big contracts. The Mets came into the season, projected at 92.5 wins by Caesar Sportsbook, and looked to make a run with the Atlanta Braves for the NL East Division title.

After the first 64 games for the Mets, the division is slipping away from the payroll giants. The Mets have posted a 30–34 record, sitting in fourth place in the NL East, while the Braves are 39–24 and in first place in the NL East. With the Mets sitting 9.5 games back, the Braves have made a considerable early head start for the division.

Braves-Mets Three-Game Series

The Braves-Mets rivalry went full swing in a three-game series between the two ball clubs. In the first game, Mets first baseman and star Pete Alonso took a slider 448 feet and gave the Mets a 4-1 lead. Alonso yelled, “Throw it Again, throw it again, please throw it again.” The Braves came back in the sixth inning, and after a two RBI double by Sean Murphy, reliever Tyler Matzek yelled, “Throw it again,” to taunt the Mets and Alonso. Atlanta came back and won the first game, 6–4.

In the next game, Max Scherzer and Charlie Morton took the mound. Alonso got hit in the first inning by Morton and was removed from the game. The Mets took a 4–1 lead in the top of the fifth. The Braves came back and made it a 5–5 game. With two outs in the eighth inning, Michael Harris II sent a two-run bomb to center field and gave the Braves a 7–5 win.

Finally, Spencer Strider and Verlander started the series’ final game for both teams. Both struggled, with Strider giving up eight earned runs in 4 innings pitched. Verlander gave up four earned runs in three innings pitched. The Mets jumped out to a 10–6 lead off a Francisco Alvarez home run in the top of the sixth, and the Mets looked to take one out of the three games. The Braves stormed back, and Orlando Arcia hit a solo home run to tie the game in the ninth. Ozzie Albies hit a 3-run home run in the bottom of the tenth, and the Braves walked it off 13–10.

The History

After the Braves swept the Mets, Brandon Nimmo commented on the “rivalry” between the Mets and the Braves. Nimmo dropped a super honest answer to Mets writer Tim Healey. Nimmo said,

“You could probably say that [the rivalry being one-sided] over the last decade or so,” Brandon Nimmo said. “Twenty years or whatever. Take it back to the ‘90s when they were winning the East all the time. It definitely is.”

What Nimmo says has substance behind it. Since 1990, the Braves have won the division 19 times and won the division 11 straight times from 1995-2005. The Braves also posted a 306-234 record since 1990, according to Statmuse.

Meanwhile, if you take the NL East in its’ history, one sad fact from the division is the number of titles for each team. Since the creation of the division in 1969, here are the top 4 teams with the most division titles.

Atlanta Braves	17	1995–2005, 2013, 2018–2022
Philadelphia Phillies	11	1976–1978, 1980, 1983, 1993, 2007–2011
Pittsburgh Pirates	9	1970-1972, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1990–1992
New York Mets	6	1969, 1973, 1986, 1988, 2006, 2015

The Mets and Phillies have been in the East since its creation in 1969. The Pittsburgh Pirates left the NL East for the NL Central in 1994. The Braves joined the NL East in 1994.

If you take the number of division titles won by the Braves and Mets since the Braves joined, here is the table:

Atlanta Braves	17	1995–2005, 2013, 2018–2022

New York Mets	2	2006, 2015

In 2021, when the Mets posted a 101-win season and led the division for a considerable amount, the Braves went on a run and stole the division after sweeping the Mets in Atlanta. With Atlanta locking up its core for the foreseeable future and tearing through the division, do the Mets stand a chance to win this season? The quick answer is yes.

How the Mets Can Win the Division

If you want to look at two title-winning scenarios in the NL East, you can look at the Atlanta Braves ten years apart. In 2021, the Braves looked abysmal and horrible. However, a bad start did not hinder the Freddie Freeman-led Braves. The Braves did not get over the .500 mark until August and won the division. The division was weak, but a hot run can lead you anywhere in baseball. The Mets have the talent to do so, the pitching staff can click, and bats can get hot.

For a collapse, look at the 2011 Braves. The Braves had an 8 1/2 game lead in September, then proceeded to lose 18 out of their next 26 games. If that isn’t bad enough, they had a chance to go into the postseason by beating the Phillies in game 162 of the season. They lost.