3 reasons Philadelphia Phillies pose a real threat to the Atlanta Braves

Big-name pitchers

Following back-to-back dominating performances in St. Louis, Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola will be available for the Phillies early in the Braves series. Nola particularly has been bashed for his late-season pitching throughout his career (an ERA jumping from 3.11 in 38 career August starts to 4.26 in 39 starts in the months of September and October), but Phillies interim manager Rob Thomson believes that reputation is in the past.

Nola not only pitched the playoff-clinching win in Houston on October 3 (allowing two hits and no runs in 6.2 innings), but also was locked in against the Cardinals, surrendering just four hits in 6.2 scoreless innings on Saturday.

“That he’s a big-game pitcher, that September doesn’t matter anymore, that he’s worth every penny,” Thomson said when asked about what he has learned about Nola in recent starts. “I mean, he’s really something. He really is. He’s cool as a cucumber, and just gives us great starts. He’s so consistent. I just can’t say enough about him.”

Nola said that his team’s familiarity with the Atlanta Braves lets them know exactly what to expect when the NLDS opens on Tuesday.

“I mean, we gotta do the little things right,” Nola said. “You know, we’ve played a lot of games against them, and I’ve pitched a lot of games against them. So have a few other of our pitchers as well.

“For our pitching staff, it comes down to executing is the main thing and trying to get that lead off guy out. They can hit. They hit for average, hit for power. They run the bases well. So I mean, they do a lot of things well, but we also do a lot of things well as well. And we’re definitely looking forward to that series.”