The Atlanta Braves have been getting about as little publicity of a defending World Series champion as can be imagined. All of the talk this season has been about the New York Mets and their amazing season. Plus, the Los Angeles Dodgers out west have been cruising and currently have the best record in all of baseball. That has allowed the Braves to fly under the radar. After Tuesday's 5-0 win over the Mets, Atlanta has climbed within 3.5 games of the National League East leaders.

The Braves are playing great baseball at just the right time. They have won eight straight games and are getting healthy. They have one of the better run differentials in baseball, which is always a great indicator on a team's true self. But, Atlanta is not the media market that New York and Los Angeles are. But that doesn't matter once you get between the white lines.

Here are the four reasons why the Mets and Dodgers should fear the Atlanta Braves come the postseason.

4 Reasons the Atlanta Braves should be taken seriously by Mets, Dodgers

4. Health Among the Elites

As I mentioned above, the Braves are getting healthy at the right time. Recent reports have Mike Soroka set to make his first rehab start in almost two years. Soroka was the breakout pitcher in 2019 who won NL Rookie of the Year honors and finished fifth in Cy Young voting.

Their lineup is loaded and outside of Ozzie Albies, are fully in tact. Rookie Michael Harris and his teammate Spencer Strider, are running away with Rookie of the Year this season. Atlanta also just called up one of their top prospects in Vaughn Grissom to add depth.

Meanwhile, both the Dodgers and Mets have taken a turn for the worse with injuries. Earlier this week, it was revealed that Dodgers ace Walker Buehler is out for the rest of the season. The Mets got a double dose. On Monday, they lost Carlos Carrasco to an oblique strain. He is going to miss at least the next month, if not longer. Then on Tuesday, Taijuan Walker was forced from his start with back spasms.

3. Braves Depth in their Rotation

All three teams playing elite level baseball in the National League this year, the Mets, Dodgers and Braves, have very deep, talented rotations. But as we mentioned, the Mets are really banged up. The Dodgers starters outside of Clayton Kershaw, do not have proven playoff experience.

However, the Atlanta Braves have that in spades.

With the news that Soroka could also be joining Fried, Strider and Kyle Wright, that would be one heck of a four-man rotation. But don't forget that Charlie Morton is there as well. Despite his early-season struggles, Morton has really turned it on the last couple of months.

Since he struck out 12 Pirates on June 12th, he has tossed eight quality starts. Morton has whiffed 97 batters in just 65 1/3 innings. He has an excellent track record in the playoffs going back to his days with the Houston Astros. In the playoffs, pitching is paramount and the Braves might be set up better than anyone.

2. Braves Bullpen

One of the most important parts of any team come playoff time is the bullpen. Atlanta boasts one of the best pens in all of baseball. Entering play Tuesday, they ranked fifth in the majors in ERA at 3.21. But maybe more importantly, it's how they get their outs that matter.

In today's day and age where launch angle is so important, and everyone seems to swing for the fences, having the ability to strike people out is crucial. That's the difference between giving up a solo home run when leading 3-1 in a tight game, and it being a three-run shot costing you the game.

The Braves bullpen are fourth in the majors with 460 punch outs this year. Raisel Iglesias, AJ Minter and Kirby Yates are great set up men. Collin McHugh is the ideal long man and Kenley Jansen is having a fantastic year closing out games for Atlanta.

1. Braves Lineup more Deadly than Last Year

Some people who doubt that Atlanta could repeat point to the loss of future Hall of Fame first baseman Freddie Freeman. That obviously is a big loss. But don't forget, Atlanta didn't have Ronald Acuna Jr. last year when they won the World Series. They do this year.

In place of Freeman, the Braves signed Matt Olson to play first base. Olson hit his 26th home run of the year, to go along with 81 RBI this year. Freeman, on the other hand, has 16 home runs and 73 RBI. Now, Olsen is hitting about 60 points lower and is not nearly as great defensively, but the point is that the drop off is not that great.

But with the emergence of Harris and Grissom, to go along with the monster years from Dansby Swanson and Austin Riley, the Braves might have the deepest lineup in baseball.

Their everyday batting order looks something like this. Acuna Jr., Swanson, Riley, Olson, Rosario, Harris, Willson Contreras, Grisson and Ozzie Albies (if he's back in time). Where is the easy out? That lineup, with that rotation and bullpen make the Braves more than formidable and possibly the favorites to win the World Series yet again.