Are Braves in position for another title run?

This story was excerpted from Mark Bowman’s Braves Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ATLANTA -- When Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos made a flurry of key acquisitions before the 2021 Trade Deadline, he knew the National League East was winnable -- despite the fact that his team had a losing record when the moves were made. It turned out that the World Series was also winnable.

Anthopoulos wasn’t nearly as active before this year’s Trade Deadline, primarily because his team didn’t need nearly as much as it did three years ago. Yeah, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Spencer Strider are lost for the season. And Ozzie Albies will miss at least another month. But the World Series is still winnable for this year’s Atlanta squad.

This is why Anthopoulos remained aggressive with his search and ended up landing Jorge Soler and Luke Jackson from the Giants on Monday night. Soler’s presence will upgrade the underperforming offense and Jackson’s success over the past month creates hope that he can again become a valuable part of Atlanta’s bullpen.

Simply by making this trade, Anthopoulos let his players know he believes they can go a long way this year.

“We’re in a playoff spot with that top Wild Card spot,” Anthopoulos said. “Our players put us in that position with all of the challenges and the bumps. I think it’s remarkable with all that we’ve been through to still be the number one Wild Card team. [Manager Brian Snitker], the coaches and the players put us in that position. We felt like as a front office, we needed to pitch in and help any way we can.”

The effort didn’t go unnoticed.

“It shows we’re all pulling from the same side of the rope,” Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale said. “We know what we have in this clubhouse. I think that is why we have been so solid in having each other’s backs. The confidence has never really wavered. When you know you have a clubhouse that is undivided and the front office has your back and believes in you, it gives you a little boost of energy.”

When the Braves entered August three years ago, they were 52-54 and five games back in the NL East race. Their top three starters were Max Fried, Charlie Morton and Ian Anderson. I get that Anderson is a postseason magician. But I’ll take this year’s trio of Sale, Fried and Reynaldo López.

Whether the Braves are the NL’s No. 1 or No. 6 seed, if they enter this year’s playoffs with those three starters healthy, they’ll be considered a legit World Series threat.

With five wins in their past six games, the Braves remain atop the NL Wild Card standings. More importantly, they have rekindled hopes for a seventh straight division crown.

The Braves (59-49) are just six games behind the free-falling Phillies (65-43), who have lost nine of their past 12 games. Atlanta was seven games behind the Mets with 50 games to play in the 2022 season. So, the current deficit with 54 games remaining is certainly not insurmountable.

Here are a few reasons the Braves could still win the division:

1. Matt Olson is rounding into form. Olson has five homers in his past 22 at-bats. More importantly, the second homer he hit against the Brewers on Wednesday came against Nick Mears’ 97.2 mph fastball on the inner third. The Braves first baseman destroyed fastballs last year with 54 homers, but he has struggled mightily against the heater this year. He picked a good time to get his timing right.

2. Soler provides the Braves another legit power bat and the leadoff hitter they have lacked since Acuña was injured on May 26. He lengthens a lineup that could look even more formidable when Michael Harris II returns from a left hamstring sprain within the next couple weeks.

With Soler, Austin Riley, Marcell Ozuna and Olson filling the lineup’s top four spots, expect to see some more of those big first-inning eruptions that became commonplace last year.

3. The Braves will host what’s left of the Marlins this weekend and then welcome the Brewers to Atlanta for a three-game set next week. They will then begin a 10-game road trip against the Rockies, Giants and Angels. The Phillies will play at the Mariners, at the Dodgers and at the D-backs before concluding this same 18-day stretch with home series against the Marlins and Nationals.

Prediction: Atlanta will be within 3 1/2 games of first place when they begin a three-game series against the Phillies in Atlanta on Aug. 20.