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Series Preview: Atlanta Braves battle Phillies for first place in NL East

By Jake Mastroianni

PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 31: Jean Segura #2 of the Philadelphia Phillies is late on the tag for a steal by Ozzie Albies #1 of the Atlanta Braves in the second innings at Citizens Bank Park on March 31, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 31: Jean Segura #2 of the Philadelphia Phillies is late on the tag for a steal by Ozzie Albies #1 of the Atlanta Braves in the second innings at Citizens Bank Park on March 31, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images) /
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PHILADELPHIA, PA – MARCH 31: Bryce  Harper #3 of the Philadelphia Phillies rounds the bases in front of Josh  Donaldson #20 of the Atlanta Braves after hitting a home run in the seventh inning at Citizens Bank Park on March 31, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – MARCH 31: Bryce  Harper #3 of the Philadelphia Phillies rounds the bases in front of Josh  Donaldson #20 of the Atlanta Braves after hitting a home run in the seventh inning at Citizens Bank Park on March 31, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images) /

We preview the upcoming series at SunTrust Park between the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies for first place in the NL East.

A lot has changed since that opening series of the season when the Phillies embarrassed the Atlanta Braves in Philadelphia.

In that three-game series, the Phillies swept the Braves and outscored them 23-11.

Kyle Wright and Bryse Wilson both made a start in that series, and both are now in Triple-A.

Luke Jackson gave up a grand slam in the first game, but has turned his season around and is now the team’s closer.

Shane Carle, Wes Parsons, Jonny Venters, Jesse Biddle, and Chad Sobotka all pitched out of the bullpen in that series and — to this point — none of them are on the active roster.

None of the starting pitchers who are scheduled to start for the Braves this weekend started in the Opening Series.

The lineup is pretty much the same for the Atlanta Braves, except Austin Riley has replaced Ender Inciarte. And Ronald Acuna Jr. and Dansby Swanson are hitting at the top.

For the Phillies, the biggest change for them is Andrew McCutchen is out with an injury. But Jay Bruce has filled in for him nicely so far.

They also have several bullpen arms on the IL in Seranthony Dominguez, Pat Neshek, and David Robertson.

Neshek pitched in all three games of that Opening Series, while Robertson pitched in two.

They now have to rely on Hector Neris and Juan Nicasio at the end of games.

The Phillies have pretty much had a stranglehold on first place in the NL East until this past week when the Braves overtook them.

However, to be fair to the Phillies they are coming off a tough stretch of games in which they played the Dodgers, Padres, Reds, and Diamondbacks.

They went 5-7 in that stretch with series wins against the Reds and Padres.

It’s still just the middle of June, and there is a lot of baseball left to be played, but it will be interesting to see where these two teams are now compared to the beginning of the season.

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