As I began writing Sunday afternoon about the hugely anticipated Atlanta Braves-New York Mets series that starts Monday night at Truist Park, my 15-year-old daughter Ella Beth said, “This is all you need to write: Dansby Swanson is really cute. Period. End of story.”
And while I’m guessing she’s not the only teenage fan throughout Braves Country who feels that way about Atlanta’s shortstop, her father is looking at this a little differently as the top two teams in the National League East battle to see which one may reach next week’s All-Star break on top of the division standings, given that the Mets’ lead is down to 1 1/2 games after Sunday’s action.
By the way, that’s 1 1/2 games from a Mets lead of at least 10 games less than two months ago. Not that this is necessarily a Mets collapse. Instead, this is one of the most extended runs of excellence in Braves history, Atlanta now on 29-8 rampage that included a 14-game winning streak last month and is the best record in the majors since June 1.
Such efforts have placed five Atlanta players on the NL All-Star roster: starting pitcher Max Fried and starting outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr., plus Swanson and catchers William Contreras and Travis d’Arnaud as reserves for the July 19 game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
Moreover, Contreras will be joining his brother Willson Contreras of the Chicago Cubs in representing the NL, the first brothers to make an All-Star roster in the same season since Roberto Alomar and Sandy Alomar Jr. in 1998, and the first time two brothers have started since the Alomars in 1992. Willson will start at catcher, with William starting at designated hitter due to the Philadelphia Phillies’ Ryan Harper being inactive because of a hand injury.