Depending on the precise point of the space-time continuum from which you read the following words, they may or may not be hard to believe: The Atlanta Braves are going back to the National League Championship Series.
That much became true on Tuesday, when the Braves defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 5-4 in NLDS Game 4 behind reigning National League MVP Freddie Freeman's dramatic eighth-inning home run against All-Star closer Josh Hader.
Last season, the Braves fell one game shy of their first NL pennant since 1999. That they now have another shot to take that last step into the World Series is at once shocking and not surprising at all.
If you had heard this bit of news on the eve of the regular season, from a time-traveler who was really invested in NL East results, you would have shrugged. The team that almost made the World Series last year and has won three straight division titles is back in the NLCS? Big deal.
But that time-traveler had shared this news on July 10, you might not have believed them. The Braves were playing just .500 baseball, in second place in the NL East -- and, on that date, Ronald Acuña Jr. played his last game of the season.
In the midst of an MVP-caliber season, Acuña tore the ACL in his right knee when he landed awkwardly in pursuit of a fly ball off the bat of Miami's Jazz Chisholm. Chisholm circled the bases for an inside-the-park home run while Acuña lay on the warning track writhing in pain.
At that moment, Chisholm's circuit around the basepaths might have been seen as symbolic, representing the trajectory of an Atlanta season that appeared to be circling down the drain.
"Losing Ronald the day before the All-Star break," Freeman said before the start of the playoffs, "a lot of us were just like, what's going to happen during the break?"
When Acuña went down, the Braves had not spent a single day above the .500 mark. They were only 4½ games back of the New York Mets in the NL East. But without Acuña, and without Marcell Ozuna, who played his last game on May 25 because of an injury and subsequent allegations of domestic violence, that gap figured to only grow. And with the Philadelphia Phillies and pre-teardown Washington Nationals looming behind Atlanta, fourth place seemed more likely than first.
The Braves lost their first game after Acuña's injury and fell back under .500 as baseball went into the break. Then, before the second half of the season began, the Braves' healing began. On July 15, they traded a prospect to the Chicago Cubs for power hitting outfielder Joc Pederson.
When Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos landed Pederson, Atlanta's outfielders collectively were tied for seventh in the majors with 40 home runs. But 31 of those homers had come from Acuña and Ozuna.
"[The turnaround] started with Joc, getting him," Freeman said. "I think that was kind of a boost we needed. We were just treading water all year, kind of playing .500, couple games under .500 all year.
"When Alex went out and got Joc, it brought a sense of energy that it just showed us that they still believed in us, to go add at the deadline."
And so they set out to solve for the problems that went further than Acuña and Ozuna. Longtime defensive ace Ender Inciarte's skills were faltering, and he was released. Ace prospect Cristian Pache, who was expected to play a major role this season, hit .111 and ended up back in the minors to fine-tune his development. The Braves didn't just need outfield production in the wake of Acuña's injury, they needed players, period.
The Pederson acquisition was a boost, but it wasn't enough, so Anthopoulos leaped into action as the trade deadline approached. On one momentous day, he remade the outfield mix for manager Brian Snitker. In three trades completed on July 30, the Braves acquired Jorge Soler from Kansas City, Adam Duvall from Miami and Eddie Rosario from Cleveland.
"I think the fact that that situation was addressed so quickly" was key, Snitker said before the Milwaukee series, when asked about the boost his front office provided. "To show that clubhouse in there that nobody is going to run away with this division, and we're going to do everything we can to stay afloat and make a run at it.
"I think that's huge in the mindset of a clubhouse because teams see what they did at the break and the deadline. The fact that Alex acted so quick, I think everybody knew once he did that first domino drop that he wasn't done yet, that he was going to continue to pursue and actively go after and make our club better. And he did."
It is not an exaggeration to suggest that despite its dominant October pitching, and despite an infield that put up historic numbers as a group, Atlanta would not be back in the NLCS if not for the aggressiveness of its general manager at the end of July.
From the beginning of August to the end of the regular season, only the New York Yankees' outfield hit more homers than the revamped Atlanta group. And despite losing premier defenders such as Acuña, Inciarte and Pache for various reasons, Braves outfielders went from a combined minus-3 defensive runs saved through the end of July to minus-1 by the end of the season.
All told, the Atlanta outfield finished with 5.0 bWAR on the season -- far from elite, but solid enough to enable the rest of the strong Braves roster to do what it does.
And what it does is win: After losing to eventual NLDS opponent Milwaukee on Aug. 1 to drop to 52-55, Atlanta won four straight to finally climb above .500 for the first time. By Aug. 22, the Braves were 11 games over. And by the end of the season, the Braves were 15 over and winners of 12 of their last 14. That translated to a fourth straight NL East title, won by a healthy 6½ games, and status as one of the hottest teams around entering the playoffs.
"This year, even though we lost Ronald in July, we played with the group we have for the last two months, it's been a whole different team," Freeman said. "We've played [as a] .630, .640 winning percentage team. It's just a whole different outlook for us and how we go forward the way we finished."
Snitker has gone with a mostly set lineup during the playoffs so far, using an outfield configuration of Rosario in left, Duvall in center and Soler in right. Soler, the lumbering right fielder with as much raw power as any player in the National League, has served as an unlikely leadoff hitter. Guillermo Heredia -- a spring training waiver pickup from the Mets -- has chipped in as a defensive sub and is a clubhouse favorite. Meanwhile, Pederson has emerged as a lethal weapon off the bench, with two pinch-hit homers against the Brewers, before drawing a starting assignment in Game 4.
"He's been in these situations a lot, No. 1," Snitker said. "No. 2, that guy's got no heartbeat at all. It's like he's on the playground. Playing against him in the postseason last few years, you could tell that."
Thus, the on-the-fly transition is complete. Not only have the Braves plugged the roster holes that sprung up throughout the outfield during the season but the bolstered depth in that area has turned into a competitive advantage.
The evolution of the outfield continued on the day the Braves clinched their NLCS berth. Soler, with whom the Braves had gone 13-3 when he was leading off, tested positive for COVID-19 and was replaced on the postseason roster by Pache. Beyond the stability the newcomers have provided to the on-field mix, their addition has also added to the mix of personalities in the clubhouse, from the not-as-taciturn-as-he-looks Soler to the deadpan humor of Pederson to the return of Duvall, who was with the Braves for the first part of last season's playoff run before he was injured. And what can't be overlooked is the message that was sent to the clubhouse when the Braves' front office did not wave the white flag.
"I think the deadline and Alex going and getting those pieces kind of just gave us that boost of energy to make it," Freeman said.
The end result is a complete team, albeit a much different one from what Anthopoulos designed last winter, one that had Acuña as one of baseball's centerpieces, not just on the Braves. That complete team has gone 39-19 since Aug. 2.
From a season circling the drain to one swooping in on Atlanta's first 21st-century trip to the Fall Classic. That's the story our time traveler would have to tell. It's been a long, meandering trip for the Braves to get back to where they believed they belonged all along.
"We came out with 88 wins and the division title for the fourth straight year," Freeman said. "Through all our ups and downs and losing the best player in the National League ... so many things that could have derailed a season. We didn't let it happen."