World Series: Braves, Astros reveal Game 1 starters

Both the Atlanta Braves and the Houston Astros have announced their starting pitchers for Game 1 of the 2021 World Series.

We’re two days away from the start of the 2021 World Series and both the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves are getting their starting pitchers ready to go.

The Braves have made the decision to go with Charlie Morton. Morton will be a familiar face for Astros fans as he was a key part of the Houston team that beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2017 World Series.

Morton has been solid for the Braves throughout the season. During the regular season, Morton compiled a 14-6 win-loss record and had a 3.34 ERA while striking out 216 batters through 185.2 innings pitched.

That said, he hasn’t always been all that sharp during the postseason.

Morton has three outings during the Braves postseason runs and Atlanta lost two of those games. In a total of 14.1 innings pitched this postseason, the 37-year-old pitcher has given up 10 hits and allowed six earned runs.

While that’s really not all that bad, Morton has also walked eight batters, with six of those walks coming in Game 3 of the NLCS, a 5-6 loss to the Dodgers. It’ll be interesting to see how sharp he looks against Houston.

Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves announce starters for Game 1

And while Atlanta will be trusting Morton with the start in Game 1, the Astros will be going with Framber Valdez. The 27-year-old pitcher put up a 3.14 ERA and 11-6 win-loss record during the regular season, striking out 125 batters during 134.2 innings pitched.

Valdez has been incredibly inconsistent this postseason, to say the least. He’s had three outings and while his most recent one was incredibly impressive, his other two weren’t much to write home about.

In the ALDS Game 2 against the Chicago White Sox, Valdez went through 4.1 innings and gave up seven hits and four earned runs. His outing in Game 1 of the ALCS was similarly awful as he only went 2.2 innings while giving up six hits and two earned runs before getting pulled from the game.

In Game 5 of the ALCS, Valdez looked like a completely different pitcher. He managed to go 8.0 innings, striking out five Boston Red Sox batters and only allowing three hits and one earned run.

With the situation around Astros ace Lance McCullers being a concerning one due to an injury issue, Houston fans have to be hoping for a strong performance from Valdez.