A breakdown of the Braves…from a fan of both the Astros and Atlanta

Yes, you read the title right. I am an avid fan of both the Braves and Astros. Both teams are very dear to my heart and I honestly am equally happy with either team winning. I watch most of Atlanta’s games and wanted to fill in on some details of what I have seen throughout the year. Let’s start with the lineup.

Rosario: You guys don’t need to hear much from me on him. You’ve seen him do his thing in the postseason. He’s just got a super simple swing and gets barrel on the ball. Not the type of guy the Astros will want up with runners on. He hits to all fields and doesn’t K.

Freeman: The Astros will likely shift on him, but I wouldn’t. He has no problem poking the ball the other way if given to him. Teams need to pitch him in, but it’s risky because if it leaks over the plate he will launch the ball over the fence in any part of the field. With the Astros having few lefties I expect him to have a very good series.

Ozzie Albies: Switch hitter, but is not very good from the left side. Keep him on the left side of the plate as much as possible. Really struggles with high heat. Has surprising pop. Kind of Atlanta’s Altuve.

Austin Riley: reminds me a lot of Troy Glaus, but can take it to both fields. Keep the ball away from him to at least eliminate power. He will chase outside sliders. Great defensive 3B.

Adam Duvall: the typical 3-true outcomes hitter. Led NL in RBI’s. Has low avg but his avg skyrockets with RISP. Need to make sure no one is on for him.

Dansby Swanson: Do not try to sneak a fastball by him. That is his pitch no matter where it is. He is streaky and thankfully for the Astros he is on a cold streak right now. Tremendous defensive SS.

Joc Pederson: you guys know him. Really struggles against lefties. Massive power against righties.

Travis D’arnaud: was silver slugger winner last year but isn’t the same guy. Avoid throwing high fastballs. Easy to steal off of.

Jorge Soler: will be in to face lefties and DH. Massive power. Walks a lot. K’s a lot.

Atlanta relies on the long ball. That is hard to rely on so I suspect guys like Framber to do well against them.

Now the pitchers:

Charlie Morton. CFM. You know all about him.

Max Fried: Your traditional cutter throwing lefty. Wants to jam righties and then drop a nasty slider or curveball in any count.

Ian Anderson: Young and can fall apart, but has a superb change up. He is just a three pitch pitcher so it is hard for him to go deep.

The Braves best pitchers in the bullpen are all lefties. Minter, Matzek, Smith. The first two especially are filthy and cutting right through hitters this postseason. It’s going to come down a lot to how well can the Astros righties hit them. If Atlanta gets to the 7th with a lead they feel VERY good.

Hope you enjoyed my quick scouting report!