We take a quick look at what the Atlanta Braves will try to do with the starting rotation in the NLDS, which will be a best-of-five series.
We all know that the biggest weakness of the Atlanta Braves is the back of their starting rotation. That didn’t exposed in the Wild Card Series because it was just a best-of-three and they won in two games.
Max Fried is brilliant and Ian Anderson has more than proven himself at this point.
But beyond those two, the Braves rotation is questionable.
Kyle Wright certainly looked good in his final two outings of the regular season, but how much trust will Brian Snitker have in him as he makes his first postseason start — likely in game three of the NLDS?
Those are the Braves three top starters right now and I feel really confident in the first two and semi-confident in the third.
But with there being no off days in any of these postseason rounds, Atlanta will likely need a fourth starter and possibly a fifth.
The Braves could certainly try and use a bullpen game if the NLDS goes to a fourth game, but that could also be dependent on how much work the bullpen gets in the first three games.
And then I think you almost have to bring Max Fried back on three days rest if there is a game five, but that comes with a lot of risk as well with Fried having a good bit of injury history. You certainly don’t want to ruin his future.
I’m almost certain the Braves will remove a reliever from the postseason roster and add someone with more starting experience for the NLDS.
Perhaps they drop Grant Dayton or Josh Tomlin to add Bryse Wilson. You could even drop Charlie Culberson to add a starter.
But either way, I think they have to add another starter/long reliever for this next round. Who that might be, I really don’t know.
I think if they had any faith in Mike Foltynewicz or Sean Newcomb they would be on the roster already. That’s why I think it’s either Wilson or Huascar Ynoa that gets added.
Let’s just hope the Braves take care of business in the first three games and we don’t have to worry about finding starters for games four and five.