It’s that time of the year again.
No, I am not talking about playoff baseball all around the MLB. I’m talking about predictions from some people who just love the game and like to say a few words and in reality, just hope to not be completely wrong at all their picks.
Honestly speaking, this years group of NLDS series matchups has some fascinating and on paper, some great potential series.
The Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers could make a case for their series perhaps being the most competitive and even among the four series however. We should be in for a battle and a good few games of baseball.
For the fourth straight year, the Atlanta Braves have captured the NL East title, and this very well may have been the toughest and it was definitely the most stressful. Let’s put a positive spin on it though and let’s hope that the battles this team has endured since early July will have them ready for the rigorous stretch that can come with October baseball.
With all that being said, I have asked some of the guys and gals here at Tomahawk Take to give me who will win the Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers series? Who will be the MVP of the series? How many games will the series go, and lastly, what will be the X-Factor(s) that make the difference.
I will now go ahead and give my predictions and be the woeful one who tries not to embarrass themselves first.
James’ NLDS picks-
I am not going to lie here, it has been obvious for a few weeks that whatever team won the NL East was going to face the Brewers. All along, I thought to myself that the Brewers would win the series and advance to the NLCS.
Two things have changed my mind.
- The way the Brewers ended the season
- A deeper dive into the numbers prove that the Braves can hang with them
I have completely flipped and now I will take the Braves in a decisive game 5 of this series.
It’s not going to be easy and the Brewers have the second best 1-2-3 starting rotation in this years playoffs but the Braves can pull it off I believe.
Adam Duvall will win the MVP of the series as he will hit a couple of the Brewers hard throwing fastballs deep into the stands and finish the series with 5 or 6 RBI.
For myself though, the X-factors of this series will be Ian Anderson and Huascar Ynoa. We know what the Atlanta Braves should get out of Morton and Fried, but the middle games could be where the Atlanta Braves either make it or get sent packing. We are going to need the good versions of both of those arms.