One reason the Braves can handle the Phillies, Dodgers, and Brewers
By Kevin Henry
Why the Atlanta Braves can handle the Los Angeles Dodgers
It is the NLCS that everyone is expecting as the Braves and Dodgers will all but likely be the top two seeds on the NL side of the bracket. Atlanta holds a slim 4-3 lead in the season series, a set of matchups where the visiting team has won the series (Atlanta took three of four in Los Angeles while the Dodgers won two of three at Truist Park).
The most recent of the matchups took place in late August and early September at Chavez Ravine, and perhaps that's a better representation of the current state of both teams' rotations. Since that matchup, the Dodgers have lost Julio Urías, who is not with the team after being arrested on September 3 on domestic violence charges. His absence puts another dent in the Los Angeles rotation that is thin heading into the postseason as our own Robert Murray pointed out in this article.
If the two teams get together in the NLCS, Atlanta will have a decided upper hand in its starting pitching. While Los Angeles holds its own pair of MVP candidates in Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, getting to the World Series usually takes strong pitching and Atlanta has an abundance of that when compared to Clayton Kershaw, Lance Lynn and a grouping of rookies and young pitchers who will have to step into the spotlight for Los Angeles.
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