Image credit: IMAGE IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Atlanta Braves (3), Los Angeles Dodgers (2), 8:00 PM ET
ATL: Spirit of Chris Sale Past/Present/Future (14-9, 2.16 ERA, 68 DRA-); LAD: Blake Snell (4-1, 1.90 ERA, 82 DRA-);
With the pitching staff somewhat depleted due to the Phillies’ failure to pitch, Atlanta opted to run a bullpen game against Tarik Skubal yesterday, perhaps deliberately accepting the likelihood of a loss in exchange for a stronger start today. They have yet to announce a start at the time of writing, but if Chris Sale does take the mound, that’s as safe as it gets. It’s impossible not to think about the complete elimination game that brought the Dodgers back in August when evaluating this matchup—while not having enough juice in the tank to close after Game 3 of the Wild Card, stranger things have happened in October.
The Dodgers are one of the better teams in the league for hitting and sinking teams, but that’s not saying much because most teams are just really bad. Say the Dodgers are good they would be liberal in their own sales; They are excellent against the old fastball, but that will probably be better for Sale. His three career runs at Dodger Stadium are not up to his usual standard, which is a direct line with his friendship; if Jupiter’s view of the 21-inch relief had disturbed his calm too much, he could have been a very rough ride.
Blake Snell probably spent more time on Twitch than he did on the mound this year due to a plethora of injuries that limited him to nine regular season starts. The first of those was against the Braves, when Snell gave up five runs (four earned) in three innings of work — then again, he just went off the injured list, and two days later he rested on it. Going back to August, he allowed just five total runs in eight starts.
Within the limited sample size, all of their voices were graded moderately. His peak – which he shoots half the time – is the weakest among them, clocking in at -0.4 StuffPro, but this can be compensated for by the fact that Atlanta is somehow. the the worst team in hitting them. Only Drake Baldwin and Michael Harris II produced positive value against four-pointers this year, while the offense did much more damage in turnovers and turnovers. Sprinkle in what’s lefty…