Braves' odd Wild Card roster construction immediately vindicated in Game One victory

When the Atlanta Braves mapped out their pitching plan for the Wild Card series against Philadelphia, they expected their top arms to be enough. The decision to carry just 11 pitchers on the Wild Card roster was calculated, despite catching some by surprise. This philosophy holds up when you consider that a best-of-three series has only so many outs a manager needs to account for.

This strategy is especially strengthened when the ace you are counting on goes out and looks like his usual dominant self. Atlanta's thrilling Game One victory couldn't have been scripted much better from a pitching standpoint, and Chris Sale's performance has Atlanta well equipped to navigate the remainder of the series.

Braves' bullpen should be fresh for Game Two, vindicating their roster decision to go light on arms

Because of the heroics from Austin Riley, Atlanta's bullpen flew under the radar in terms of Game One storylines. Manager Walt Weiss suggested he could lean on his high-leverage relievers often in a short series, and the good news is Tuesday's workload should not limit the bullpen going forward.

Entering this series, it was presumed that Didier Fuentes, Dylan Lee, Robert Suarez, and Raisel Iglesias would each be heavily involved so long as the games remained close. To the surprise of no one, the first battle between fierce rivals was a tightly contested affair. As a result, Fuentes, Lee, and Iglesias each appeared in Game One.

Thankfully, that trio managed to get outs without taxing themselves with a high pitch count. Among the listed relievers, Lee threw the most pitches (16) on Tuesday afternoon. Additionally, Suarez did not pitch at all, meaning Weiss can get really aggressive with him on Wednesday should he choose.

We knew the Braves could get crafty with their bullpen this series, and before action opened up, Weiss mentioned they had a few relievers that could pitch multiple innings if the situation required it. Understandably, Weiss also acknowledged that the need for "innings eaters" in the bullpen did not really exist in the Wild Card round

Tyler Mahle does not have the same track record as Sale, so do not be surprised if Weiss asks Fuentes, Lee, or Iglesias to throw multiple innings on Wednesday. Additionally, the Braves could bring in Suarez against the Phillies' best hitters in the fourth or fifth inning. Atlanta absolutely wants to close the series out in Game Two, and their best way of accomplishing that is sticking to the pitching plan they carved out before the series began.

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