The Braves enter tonight’s NLCS a little more well-rested than their counterparts from LA. Having finished the Brewers off in four games, the Braves are able to set their rotation as desired with ace Max Fried taking the ball in game one. After that, Charlie Morton and Ian Anderson will be ready for games two and three, though not in that order, as the Braves are giving Morton an additional day of rest to start game three. That also allows Anderson the more favorable home crowd in game two.
On the offensive end, Jorge Soler remains on the COVID-19 list. He could return sometime during this series if he’s cleared, but they’d have to remove Cristian Pache, who took his roster spot in the NLDS, notes The Athletic’s David O’Brien (via Twitter). The rest of their NLCS roster lays out thusly…
Right-Handed Pitchers
- Ian Anderson (game 2 starter)
- Jesse Chavez
- Luke Jackson
- Chris Martin
- Charlie Morton (game 3 starter)
- Jacob Webb
- Huascar Ynoa
Left-Handed Pitchers
- Max Fried (Game 1 starter)
- Tyler Matzek
- A.J. Minter
- Will Smith
- Drew Smyly
Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
Essentially, the Braves have chosen to swap out Dylan Lee and Terrance Gore in favor of Chris Martin and Johan Camargo. Pache also remains on the roster for the time being, with Soler expected to miss the entire series. The Braves are rolling with just a 12-man pitching staff while keeping six bats on the bench.
In Soler’s spot, Pache will likely be used as a defensive replacement. He could also be used as a pinch-runner now that Gore has been left off. Gore made his first appearance of the season for the Braves in the NLDS, though keeping the speedster on the roster is a bit of a luxury.
In his place, Camargo provides greater flexibility with the glove. Camargo saw his role diminish more than ever this season, stepping to the plate just 18 times without recording a hit during the regular season. The baseball gods surely have primed Camargo for a significant plate appearance at some point during the NLCS.
Lee was a surprising addition to the NLDS roster, and he did not appear against the Brewers. Martin brings much more experience in what’s sure to be a high-pressure series against the Dodgers. Without Lee, the Braves still have the M&Ms Matzek and Minter as southpaws ahead of their lefty closer Smith, as well as Smyly, though the latter is the most likely option to start game four in Los Angeles. Should Smyly come in handy out of the pen early in the series, Ynoa is certainly capable of starting game four in his place.
Good. Martin has struggled but I’d still call on him before Lee. And Gore… smh… his speed isn’t sooooooo valuable that you have a guy who can’t hit at all…. Camargo is just fine for that bench spot. Switch hitter with some success in the minors this year… year, I like him off the bench early in the game if pitchers are struggling or store him if the game goes in extras as he can play almost anywhere on the field serviceable enough
Camargo is a slug, I’m not even a big follower of the Braves and I can’t stand that guy. He shows the same emotion after striking out as he does riding the pine. If he even gets in the on-deck circle I’d hope something went terribly wrong or that was Snitkers last option
Atlanta without Soler doesn’t have a great bench like before. Both Rosario and Pederson are likely starting as they are the best options. Johan has history in majors of hitting and hitting for power he is about the best option the Braves had. Much rather see Johan than the other guys in a big situation
@benjamin that’s frankly not true. Camargo’s bat all but dried up after his debut season in which he was good. Your better off pointing to his triple A numbers this year then say he has power and can hit in the majors
Agreed, Mastershake- and I am a Braves fan. I’d have rather had Gore over Camargo. But if he’s just there as a “Break Glass in Case of Emergency” type, I can deal. I’m going to be disappointed if he’s getting critical PH ABs.
LAD one of the worst teams catching base stealers. Gore would be an asset as a late-inning pinch-runner IF (big IF) they decided to risk running. LAD took advantage of d’Arnaud’s weakness in throwing out rubbers last year. They won’t run on Fried bc of his pickoff move, but Anderson is ripe for the picking. I know Pache is fast but that hasn’t translated to SB yet.
Throwing out “rubbers” ????
Gotta keep the players protected brother
Yeah man, we gotcha covered, practice safe base running
I don’t like the Camargo addition at all. His attitude has been less than desirable for years. I’d take Gore over him or Strider as a extra arm. The Braves already have Adrianza and Arcia as extra infielders. I am hoping Soler makes it back for game 2 and Camargo is sent packing.
If Soler comes back Pache goes out. Pache was the named replacement player for Soler.
Pache would need to get hurt first.
Note: Arcia has 2 postseason HR off Buehler — so look for him in G3.
Why is Soler expected to miss the entire series? I thought he was only going to be out the first two games?
He still has to have consecutive negative tests before he can be reactivated. Maybe he’s experiencing symptoms. Or maybe this is the Braves saying they can’t count on anything until Soler passes the protocols.
He needs to be out at least 10 days, plus must pass the mlb protocols. He likely wasn’t vaccinated, which sucks for him and the team.
It’s been written in different articles that he is/was vaccinated. But, who knows? I’ve seen nothing on his current condition, asymptomatic, mild symptoms, sick, etc. It’s obviously a big subtraction for the Bravos. I never thought I’d hear myself say, Soler is a hellava lead-off bat.
DOB basically confirmed he’s not vaxxed. He said Soler was asymptomatic. He said non-vaxxed players are tested everyday. So…
kinda jumping to conclusions there on the vax thing…
@Mountainbraves this is false info. It’s been mentioned several times he was vaccinated. Also he only has to be out at least five days but does have to pass MLB protocols on top of that. With two negative tests he could be back as soon as tomorrow but that is not likely.
You are incorrect. The 5 days is the contact tracing protocol. 10 days is if you test positive, which he did. Also, the reports were by ESPN, who did not have his medicals
Braves were one of the first teams fully vaccinated and one of the few that is.
That was very true before the new players were added.
This is the exact rule as it applies to Soler in this scenario:
Individuals who test positive will be required to isolate for a minimum of 10 days, receive appropriate care and monitoring from the Club medical staff, and be cleared by the Joint Committee and the individual’s team physician, following a mandatory cardiac evaluation and a determination that the individual no longer presents a risk of infection to others.
Doesn’t really matter because the Astros are going to win the World Series
Some Dodger writer wrote something along the lines of, “The hard part was over for the Dodgers [beating the Giants]. Now it is time to face the Braves.”
My goodness, will it feel good if the Braves beat the Dodgers.
Please, oh please Baseball G-ds, let all of them look bad.
That’s pretty awful. The dodgers are definite favorites but they aren’t infallible.
The Dodgers are heavy favorites, but anything can happen in the playoffs. Would love to shut that writer up!!
Considering the giants had the best record in baseball, and had given the dodgers the most problems this year. Playing them in a short series was the most difficult part of the playoffs. No knock on the braves, but they aren’t quite as good as the giants.
@dodgerfan83
Braves went 3-3 with Giants in the season series, so why do you assert they’re not as good as them? Tell me how many times you and the Giants beat up on the Diamondbacks this year. Outside of that you played each other a whole lot and the Padres as well. Furthermore, tell me what the season series with Dodgers was, was it 4-2 with 2 x 1 run games and 2 run game in your wins, it’s not as if you beat up on the Braves, but good luck with your stacked team, Scherzer, Price, Trea Turner, etc etc. You better hope Mad Max Scherzer wins for you today or it will 2-0 for the Braves. Go Braves.
@fred McGriff
To further bolster your argument, if you took all five NL playoff teams and created standings based only on their regular season games against each other, here would be the results:
ATL 14-11 (.560)
LA 21-18 (.538)
STL 19-20 (.487)
SF 18-20 (.473)
MIL 18-21 (.462)
Maybe the steepest hill in the Dodgers’ road to a repeat championship is the one they’re climbing now.
People forget the dodgers got past the giants but didn’t show a whole lot of offense. Atlanta has a much better pitching staff and bullpen than the Giants and without a doubt a much deeper / more powerful line up.
I like the Braves chances against the dodgers. I have noticed over the last two months that even the games the Braves lost that they normally always had a chance at some point with runners on.
Dodgers fan here that doesn’t count the Braves out, or any team for that matter. The writers can write what they want but rest assured there isn’t one person in the Dodgers clubhouse sleeping on what the Braves can do. They are a good baseball team, nothing is guaranteed whatsoever.
Agree w/ mcdusty’s assessment of Braves v SF pitching now. Fried, Anderson and Morton, collectively, are better than Webb, Gausman and DeSclafani in the present. As good as Webb was, Fried has been his equal in September-October. Morton/Anderson are better than Gausman/DeSclafani. Dodgers exposed Giant bullpen in LDS. If Braves pen is good in this series, LAD have their hands full.
Atlanta has a much better pitching staff? Dodgers-Giants were #1-2 in baseball for team era and whip.
Braves were 8th in baseball, 4th in NL behind Milwaukee. It’s fine that you live on the east coast and games are on too late for you, but give the Giants credit for how good they were this year.
Terrence Gore is probably the closest thing to Herb Washington that we will see again. It’s sad the way his usage is just minimized until the postseason. In the 80s, he would have been in someone’s outfield (likely in the National League) and would have been stealing 60-100 bases a year or more. Now he doesn’t get to play until a couple of pinch running appearances in the postseason. I miss stolen bases.
The Braves certainly have a chance.
They can pitch. They’ve a couple starters that can win a game on their own.
& they have power up & down the lineup.
That is extremely important. Home runs have been the difference all postseason.
To the “You can’t win in the playoffs by hitting home runs” fellas, check out these #:
The next time the winning team hits less home runs in a game will be the SECOND time that has happened in the ’21 postseason. The first was NLDS game 5.
A handful of NL games saw ALL scoring come via the long ball.
ONE home run has been the difference in several games.
It is a helluva lot easier to work a walk & get a big fly off Max Scherzer (for example) than it is to string 3 or 4 base hits together off of him for those same 2 runs.
That all seems to be true, just recently saw a segment on MLB Network, stating the same thing. While it’s true, HR’s = Wins, at all points during a season, it’s even more so true during the Play Offs. Trust me when I say, I wish it was different, for I’d much rather see A,B,C baseball played out on the field. But, facts are facts, even when you don’t like them or agree with the method to obtain them.
I completely understand the conflict, @Bravos14.
Aesthetically it’s a downgrade. & while home runs are certainly always exciting, I think a multi-hit/productive out rally is even more so. But that gets back to aesthetics.
I certainly understand why GM’s pack their lineups with power hitters though. I would too.
What the heck happened to the bunt? How many times have you asked yourself, why don’t they bunt? Freeman has learned to hit against the shift, you can also bunt to kill the shift. C’mon folks 1 run does make a difference. Play smart
I’m not one of those guys that is unilaterally against bunting. Runners on first & second, nobody out, & Gardy at the plate? Yeah. Go ahead & lay one down. Might even load the bases.
But. I would never ask a guy like Freeman to bunt. Ever. I want my big boys taking their big rips, man.
I think that is playing “smart”.
Buck, I stated that Freeman has learned to “hit” against the shift. For other Braves, when that shift is on & you haven’t mastered that ability to punch a hit through the hole, lay one down man! That hole in the infield has your name on it.
Whoops!
You sure did. My bad Curly. I misread that. However: I still want my sluggers to play like sluggers. I want guys who can put runs on the board with one swing to do just that.
Funny thing Buck, Dodgers opened up the game with the Braves with a huge shift on Rosario. Rosario beat the shift with a single to right, but if some of these guys could lay some bunts down they may discourage the shift.
2nd batter, Freeman, severe shift
3rd batter Albies, mild shift
So many shifts, I prefer an automatic myself.
But that is the thing.
Teams are willing to give up those bunt singles. It’s wide open. But teams also don’t like to take the bat out of their big boys hands.
If he pitches well, “this could be paradise” for the Braves.
I dunno, he might cause the Braves trouble.
Camargo had great numbers in AAA this year. I’m happy for him, and wish him well.
Camargo doing what he does best which is striking out.
Maybe he’ll do better than he did in the new Coldplay album
C’mon Braves! Beat LA!
Need game 1. Games 3,4,& 5 in La. If Soler power is ready for game 3, pache gets switched out. Nice to see the ball park in Atl jumping.
I still don’t feel Martin, Webb or Chavez is better than Rodriguez.
I agree other than regarding Webb. I believe he will be big one day, whether with the Braves or another team.
Man, this offense right now is hard to watch, but they are scoring late.
Good **** Riley!
Please take this series!
I came here looking for Coldplay puns.
I leave disappointed
MLBTR we have lost our ways!
Not that I’ll watch any of the games but I might if Atlanta wins the WS just to see Manfred have to them the trophy, better yet in Atlanta
Mad Max was not sharp at all in game 2. He had command of his fastball but most of his sliders were low. Braves hitters are/were chasing everything. Very frustrating offense!
Eddie Rosario tagging at 1st and going to 2nd was a HUGE play in the context of that game, and then scoring at home on an awesome slide. That is what you call clutch post season baseball.
I really wonder what the Braves are going to do with Rosario, Soler, Duvall, Pederson. I’d keep Rosario definitely. The Braves do not win that game today without him.
I’m contemplating this myself. With Acuna back, they will not nor will be able to keep them all.
Personally, I couldn’t care less about Duvall. The guy is all or nothing without the walks. Never liked him. He is not worth picking up. Decline the option and move on.
Soler is my guy. In fact, I was first to suggest Soler in the leadoff spot. Snit literally put him there days later. However, his covid diagnosis and possible exclusion from the CS may leave a bad taste on the Braves mouth.
Rosario will find another place to play in. He was a good player with the Twins. He has the ability to play every day. I don’t think it will happen in ATL.
Joc..I wanted him in the off-season for one reason – postseason success. Bring him back!
IDK about you, but I will bring in Chris Taylor but I’m clearly biased towards guys who perform when the teams need them.