Position by position breakdown of Atlanta Braves NLDS series
By James Kunkle
Left Field
Nick Markakis is a good player who got a touch luck draw in this matchup. If he was still planning on being used in Right field, he would have been the choice, but like I said he got Marcell Ozuna.
While the former Marlin had a down year for his standards, he is still the superior player of these two. Again that’s no knock on Markakis, it’s just a signal of how good Ozuna is in my opinion.
In fact, I’ve said in the past, if I were the Braves I would maybe think about going after Ozuna when he is a free agent this Winter. Time will tell.
So the answer here is probably a moderate advantage for the Cardinals. Look on the bright side though, that’s the first time we have said that.
Center Field
The easiest one to decide was no doubt this one. On one hand you got Harrison Bader, but I don’t even have to dive into what the Atlanta braves have. Ronald Acuna is already getting recognized as one of the best in the game despite only being 21 years old.
We all remember the grand slam Acuna hit last year off the Dodgers, so we already know the big time stage shouldn’t phase him. Let’s hope this is the start of a playoffs where Ronald Acuna shows off and emphatically puts his name besides the other greats that are currently playing.
As I said, this was the easiest decision we had to make. No doubt the Atlanta Braves have a huge advantage on this one.
Right Field
The last one as far as offense goes is the battle in right field. Honestly speaking, Dexter Fowler has been a nightmare signing for the Cardinals to this point. With that being said though, this was his best year yet.
The Braves will roll out another platoon of Matt Joyce and Adam Duvall here. This one was so tough for me to judge. I’ve been a big fan of Matt Joyce and what he has done for the Braves all season long. In fact, I recently had him as my “X” factor for the Atlanta Braves.
I think for the simple fact that the Cardinals only have 2 lefty’s who are both in the pen, I’m going to give the Braves a slight advantage over the Cardinals here because I trust Joyce more than Duvall. This was the closest of all of these though. I could have went either way.