I've also spent most of the season just assuming the Braves would figure out a playoff spot and spent most of August hoping for a Padres/DBacks swoon, neither of which happened. But...have you seen their lineup recently? Albies, Riley, and Acuna all out, Matt Olson struggling to stay about 100 wRC. It's basically Ozuna and some bizarre late career resurgences from Whit Merrifield and Travis D'Arnaud. They picked up Soler and are voluntarily playing him in right(!). Gio Urshela, released by the Tigers(!), is their starting 3B now that Riley is out. It's pretty dire.
The pitching is good but it is so, so old. I don't really know how Chris Sale went from
2020: 0 innings
2021: 63 innings total
2022: 16 innings total
2023: 109 innings total
2024: 148 innings and somehow the Cy Young favorite?
TLDR: This is not the 2023 Braves