Projecting the Atlanta Braves division series playoff roster
The roster rules for this time of year are not the same as the regular season, so will the Atlanta Braves choose to mix things up a bit?
A key element of the post-season pattern for Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker is the fact that he tends to use his horses and ride them to the finish line.
At the same time, he’s also not afraid to use his pitching staff — all of it — in an attempt to get the best matchups for his defense.
Those facts may make for some interesting calls in the makeup of next week’s 26-man playoff roster and the decisions about whether the Braves choose to add either an extra pitcher or an extra position player for their second-round series against either the Philadelphia Phillies or St. Louis Cardinals.
Let’s take a guess at how that breakdown might play out.
Opposition and the Rotation
During the regular season, the Braves were 11-8 against the Phillies and 4-3 vs. St. Louis. An advantage, but not an overwhelming one.
Most recently, Atlanta split four games in Philadelphia (Jake Odorizzi powering up the Phils in one of those) and dropped 2 of 3 in St. Louis (thanks to meltdowns from Charlie Morton and A.J. Minter).
The expectation is that the Braves will start Max Fried, Kyle Wright, and TBD in the first 3 games of this NLDS series, regardless of which club they face.
The question mark involves Game 3. According to Brian Snitker (Sirius/XM interview on Thursday morning), Spencer Strider has been throwing without discomfort, but hasn’t yet thrown off a mound.
From a technical point of view, the Braves did activate Strider from the 15-day IL yesterday (October 6).
That third game won’t be contested until a week from today (Friday, the 14th of October — on the road), so there’s still time for Strider to get some additional healing time. The Braves could choose to go with Charlie Morton in that game and hold Strider until Game 4 or later.
In a perfect world, if the Braves sweep the NLDS, Strider’s return could be delayed until the NLCS series… and he’d be set up to pitch twice there.
Regardless of that speculation, the expectation here is that barring any medical setbacks, the Braves go with 4 starters for the NLDS: Fried, Wright, Morton, and Strider.
The bullpen is next.