Braves Just Need to Stay the Course to Beat Dodgers in NLCS

Even though the Atlanta Braves feel like heavy underdogs as they go up against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the formula to win is simple.

You’ll hear a lot of experts pick the Los Angeles Dodgers to beat the Atlanta Braves in the 2020 NLCS, and for good reason.

The Dodgers are the best team in baseball on paper and had the best record throughout the 2020 season. They’ve been just as impressive as the Braves on their road to the NLCS this postseason and are an experienced group of players hungry to finally get over that hump and win a World Series.

But if you take a step back and look at how this Braves team has won this year, it really shows that they have the formula for taking down the Dodgers.

What is that formula for the Braves to beat the Dodgers?

The basic winning formula for the Braves all year has been to get a decent 3-5 innings from their starter where they keep them in the game then turn it over to our shutdown bullpen, and then let the offense go to work late in the game against the other teams bullpen.

It’s been a little easier in the postseason because the Braves have gotten a lot more length out of their starters, but that might not be as easy going up against the Dodgers.

Still, if our starters can keep us in the game through the first half and get it to the bullpen with us being down by just a run or two, I feel pretty good about our chances of winning that game.

I forget which broadcaster said this during the Marlins series, but you almost feel like when the Braves are down by just one run in the middle of the game that they’re actually up by one run.

That’s because the evidence and history is there that this offense will normally break out at some point over a nine-inning game.

And if the Dodgers do have one weak spot on their team it is in their bullpen.

I use the term “weakness” very loosely here because they still have a very good bullpen, but in comparison to the rest of their roster, it’s the “weakest” spot.

Braves hitters also don’t seem to care how good another team’s bullpen is as they’ve feasted on some of the best arms in baseball all year.

And if the Braves are going to upset the Dodgers in this series, that’s the formula they’ll need to continue to use.