The Atlanta Braves have a chance to take a series lead in the NLDS against the Dodgers at home these evening behind Chris Sale.
The pitching is what has been given a lot of love by the media and fans alike for good reason for the Braves, but the offense has been the unsung hero. Sure, the offense has not set the world on fire, but there have been quite a few small things that has really stuck out.
During the regular season the Braves were so bad at drawing walks, that only two teams in MLB has worse
walk rates. In the postseason, the Braves are first in walks. A key player in that has been Ozzie Albies.
The Braves also lead in HRs, 2Bs, and TBs. If they keep getting runners on, it will eventually lead to more runs than what we are seeing. That is easier said than done against this Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but it is a good sign. Yamamoto has only surrendered one earned run against the Braves in 16.1 innings.
So far in the postseason the question about the lineup has been which player Walt Weiss is going to put in the DH slot.
The biggest change from last game is the Ha-Seong Kim will be playing SS with Mauricio Dubón shifting back to LF. Of course, this means Lane Thomas will not be getting the start. Murphy is staying at DH, apparently due to Weiss liking him to be available pinch hit for him easily whenever he wants.
This strategy does hold some weight, but a lot of Murphy’s value is in his defense. You could also shift Baldwin catcher mid-game if you prefer to have Murphy catcher when a pinch hitter comes in for Murphy. The assumption would be that Weiss does not like to swap catchers mid-game.
The Dodgers will be deploying a similar lineup like the one they had against Chris Sale since he and Kerr are both lefties. Expect to see some pinch hitting happening when the Braves go to the bullpen.
First pitch is at 6:00 pm EDT.
