After two days without baseball in the heart of the fall dance, the four division series will finally begin tomorrow (Saturday).
After the start of the duel between the Minnesota Twins and the Houston Astros, the best series of the second round (in my opinion) will take place, that between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves. The winner of this matchup could well become the World Series champion.
But let’s not go too far.
While the Braves were sipping a little beverage during the playoffs Wild Carddue to their regular season record, the best in all of MLB, the Phillies made short work of the Miami Marlins in the first round.
However, it will be a completely different story against the valiant Braves.
Starting pitchers
Because of the three days off inserted into the National League Division Series, Philadelphia is not jeopardized by the Wild Card Series on the mound.
After Ranger Suarez leaves in Game 1, Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola will be able to take their regular turns, with reasonable rest, in Games Two and Three. Wheeler could even be automatically in a possible ultimate match.
On the Braves side, three-strikeout machine Spencer Strider will start the initial duel before giving way to Max Fried. One of the two could return if a match number five were to be necessary.
As surprising as it may seem, Phillies starters maintained a better earned run average during the season than those of the Braves. But slightly.
Relievers
In the relief pen, we are witnessing a bit of the same phenomenon, the Braves relievers being a little less efficient in terms of earned run average, even if relief has never been the strength of the representatives of the city of brotherly love.
The latter, however, impressed in 2023, doing excellent work, as evidenced by their earned run average of 3.56, which gives them sixth place in the entire MLB in this regard.
As for him, the Braves corps, led by Raisel Iglesias and AJ Minter, finds itself in the second third of major baseball.
Hitters
The offensive edge certainly has to go to Georgia, with a scary lineup that has reduced its strikeout percentage. In October, putting the ball in play is always a winning strategy.
When you have a Matt Olson who was on the same pace as Aaron Judge in 2022 at some point this season in terms of long balls, a Ronald Acuna Jr. who created the 40/70 club, to name but a few that these, you know that you are in a car.
The Phillies will then be able to respond with the always dangerous Bryce Harper, not to mention Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm, whose emergence in the regular season has been confirmed in the playoffs.
Philadelphia hit 121 home runs in the second half, just behind Atlanta’s 138. So we can expect a lot of fireworks.
Defensive
On the other side of the ball, we must favor Atlanta, which finds itself in the second third of the MLB in this category, even if the shortstop position remains precarious. The rest of the infield, however, remains very solid, as does the outfield.
Speaking of outfielders, the corners of the outfield are extremely difficult in Philadelphia, which could hurt as the series goes on. In center field, however, we are armored among the Phillies.
Managers
In the dugout, we risk witnessing quite a game of chess, because Brian Snitker and Rob Thomson were not born last year and know how to manage this type of situation, unlike others. I’m going to refrain from naming names here…
If the latter led his club to the World Series after a catastrophic start to the season in 2022, the former is used to masterful moments, winning top honors in 2021.
It will be a treat to see these two men in full control. At least, I hope so.
Imponderables
The Braves may have won the National League East Division and finished with the best record in major league baseball, but Atlanta went 44-29 in the second half while Philadelphia held a 42-31 record, so it didn’t last long. There hasn’t been much difference between the two teams in recent weeks.
The fact that the Braves have been inactive during the last few days could weigh in the balance at the start of the series, baseball being a sport that is played every day. The Phillies will then have to take advantage of it.
The craziness of Citizens Bank Park could also be a factor, since home-field advantage seems to have no equal in Philadelphia.
One thing is certain, Atlanta will want to avenge its failure last year, when the Braves lost in four games during this same Division Series.
On your screens, as we will be treated to high quality baseball in this duel.
