Braves: NLDS Game 2 Preview

After a disappointing 2-1 loss last night, the Braves will look to even up the series before coming to Atlanta. Riding the coattails of a fiery hot Max Fried, they will have another test on the mound in Brandon Woodruff, in what should be another great pitching duel.

The Starters

Max Fried:

Season:

28 Starts; 14-7

3.04 ERA

1.087

3.85 SO/W

Postseason:

12 Games (4 Starts); 0-1

3.90 ERA

1.333 WHIP

3.00 SO/W

Brandon Woodruff:

Season:

30 Starts; 9-10

2.56 ERA

0.965 WHIP

4.91 SO/W

Postseason:

6 Games (3 Starts): 1-2

2.57 ERA

0.810 WHIP

10.67 SO/W

This matchup will be similar, if not better than last night. There were a lot of questions on who would start Game 1 for Atlanta as Charlie Morton has been consistently good all year while Max Fried has been borderline unstoppable as of late. Brian Snitker chose to ride with Morton and let Fried take Game 2. Speaking of Max’s hot streak, since the All-Star break, he has had a 1.78 ERA while his opponents are hitting just .193 against him.

Brandon Woodruff, on the other hand, has had a relatively rough couple of months on the mound, at least for him. In his last 13 starts, he has a 3.25 ERA and opponents are batting .256 against him. Of those 13 games, the Brewers only won four of them. In one game against the Braves this year, he went 5.1 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits, with a walk, six strikeouts, and a hit-by-pitch.

The Bullpens

Looking at how the bullpen was used for Milwaukee was interesting. After Corbin Burnes left the game, the Brewers turned to their fourth starter, Adrian Houser, who worked two innings. In the regular season, you would usually see one of their setup guys like Hunter Strickland come in and work the 7th, Devin Williams get the 8th, and Josh Hader close it out.

With Williams out, it seems that the Craig Counsell and his staff had other ideas. I would imagine that after working last night, Houser will be down today in case they need him on Monday or Tuesday, but they also had their presumptive Game 3 starter Freddy Peralta in the bullpen. He was actually warming up in the 8th just in case they needed him. With this in mind, they might have some other ideas for who will start Game 3 and how long they will pitch.

For the Braves, it was just as you would expect. Luke Jackson worked the 7th after Morton left, and Matzek worked the 8th. Neither of them threw too many pitches, so they will probably be available tonight if need be.

The Lineups

After last night’s loss, there might be some reshuffling of the Braves lineup. Don’t be surprised if Pederson starts in left field over Rosario. Joc’s previous success against Woodruff and his defense will probably make this an easy decision for Brian Snitker. Also, with one swing of the bat, he reminded us all that it is indeed Joctober. One thing to note, not many of the Brewers have experience against Fried.

(ex: Player: BA/OBP/SLG; OPS; HR; RBI; SB; Career vs Fried/Woodruff)

Jorge Soler: .223/.316/.432; .749 OPS; 27 HR; 70 RBI; 2-6 2K

Freddie Freeman: .300/.393/.503; .896 OPS; 31 HR; 83 RBI; 8 SB; 3-9 HR RBI K

Ozzie Albies: .259/.310/.488; .799 OPS; 30 HR; 106 RBI; 20 SB; 2-9 2B 2K

Austin Riley: .303/.367/.531; .898 OPS; 33 HR; 107 RBI; 1-8 BB 2K

Adam Duvall: .228/.281/.491; .772 OPS; 38 HR; 113 RBI; 5 SB; 1-4 K

Eddie Rosario: .259/.305/.435; .740 OPS; 14 HR; 62 RBI; 11 SB; 2-5 BB K

Travis d’Arnaud: .220/.284/.388; .671 OPS; 7 HR; 26 RBI; 0-2 K

Dansby Swanson: .248/.311/.449: .760 OPS; 27 HR; 88 RBI; 9 SB; 3-8 HR 3RBI BB K 2SB

Charlie Morton: .127/.127/.145; .273 OPS; 1 RBI

Bench:

Joc Pederson: .238/.310/.422; .732 OPS; 18 HR; 61 RBI; 2 SB; 3-12 2HR 2RBI BB 5K SB

Guillermo Heredia: .220/.311/.354; .665 OPS; 5 HR; 26 RBI

Ehire Adrianza: .247/.327/.401; .728 OPS; 5 HR; 28 RBI; 0-2

William Contreras: .215/.303/.399; .701 OPS; 8 HR; 23 RBI

Orlando Arcia: .198/.258/.309; .567 OPS; 2 HR; 14 RBI; SB

Terrance Gore: (AAA) .232/.361/.319; .680 OPS; RBI; 18 SB

Brewers:

Kolten Wong: .272/.335/.447; .783 OPS; 14 HR; 50 RBI; 12 SB

Willy Adames: .262/.337/.481; .818 OPS; 25 HR; 73 RBI; 5 SB; 1-3 2B

Eduardo Escobar: .253/.314/.472; .786 OPS; 28 HR; 90 RBI; SB; 2-5 2K

Christian Yelich: .248/.362/.373; .736 OPS; 9 HR; 51 RBI; 9 SB; 3-11 BB 2K

Avisail Garcia: .262/.330/.490; .820 OPS; 29 HR; 86 RBI; 8 SB

Lorenzo Cain: .257/.329/.401; .729 OPS; 8 HR; 36 RBI; 13 SB; 0-4 2BB

Rowdy Tellez: .272/.333/.481; .814 OPS; 7 HR; 28 RBI

Omar Narvaez: .266/.342/.402; .743 OPS; 11 HR; 49 RBI

Brandon Woodruff: .115/.164/.115; .279 OPS; 2 RBI

Bench:

Jace Peterson: .247/.348/.367; .714 OPS; 6 HR; 31 RBI; 10 SB

Luis Urías: .249/.345/.445; .789 OPS; 23 HR; 75 RBI; 5 SB

Daniel Vogelbach: .219/.349/.381; .730 OPS; 9 HR; 24 RBI

Manny Piña: .189/.293/.439; .732 OPS; 13 HR; 33 RBI

Tyrone Taylor: .247/.321/.457; .778 OPS; 12 HR; 43 RBI; 6 SB

Luke Maile: .300/.382/.433; .816 OPS; 3 RBI

Jackie Bradley Jr.: .163/.236/.261; .497 OPS; 6 HR; 29 RBI; 7 SB; 1-1 2B