Atlanta Braves podcast episode 32: a playoff win, but what’s next?

The Atlanta Braves won a playoff series for the first time in some of our memories.  So now what?

The Atlanta Braves will face the Miami Marlins in the ‘Eastern’ portion of the National League Division Series playoff round starting on Tuesday.  We now know this for certain, but this was a very happy podcast to record as we both review the Reds series and look forward to the Fish fight to come.

One of the biggest issues the Braves will face this week is obvious:  can they win and win quickly?  If this team is to succeed both this week and in the following weeks, it certainly works in their best interest to dispatch the Marlins as soon as possible.

Here’s why:

• The shortage of starting pitching.  This you already know.
• The game schedule.

The NLDS schedule starts on Tuesday and could run as late as Saturday — assuming that there isn’t a weather issue along the way.

So picture this:  the Marlins and Braves are locked in close combat all week, resulting in a Game 5 elimination contest.  Even if we assume for the moment that Atlanta prevails, it likely would be the result of using Max Fried on short rest next Saturday.

Now consider the National League Championship series:  that begins on October 19 – the following Monday.  That only permits one off-day after the NLDS, forcing Atlanta to start with Ian Anderson in Game 1, while holding back Fried until… Game 3?  Game 4?

Such a scenario would really hurt the Braves chances to advance further.

Then there’s this suggestion from JJ Cooper of Baseball America:

In principle, he’s right.  However, the playoff schedule itself could wreak havoc with that kind of rotation scheduling if Miami/Atlanta ends up playing to the weekend.

It’s going to be difficult enough to ration the available arms:  getting any more creative might be a case of trying to be too clever by half.

So we talk about that, our takeaways from the Reds series, possible roster changes, and our picks for the next team up for Atlanta … now known to be Miami, of course.

So here’s Episode 32:

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P.S. – you can thank Alex Rodriguez for the inspiration to use the cover photo on this post.  He wanted more bunting, so we opted to help him out.

Thanks for listening and we’re all looking forward to a fishing expedition this week from Houston’s Minute Maid Park!