The Braves kick off their post-All Star Break schedule with a rarity: a home series against the Angels. The last time the Braves played the Angels in any capacity was back in 2017, but that was in Anaheim. The last time the Angels paid a visit? 2014, when the Braves took two out of three.
Despite having two of the best players in the game, this has been another disappointing year for the Angels. What makes this one even worse is that for about five weeks, the Angels looked like they were finally not going to faceplant. On May 15, owing to the expanded playoff format and their 24-13 record (tied for the AL West division lead), the Angels had playoff odds of over 81 percent, their highest such mark since July 2015.