“The Phillies have a lineup that I think has the ability to kind of counter punch with the Braves, that’s the way I’ve described it. I don’t think anybody in baseball has the same lineup the Braves have in terms of power, in terms of depth, in terms of run scoring ability, but the Phillies definitely have a trio of hitters at the top of the order that can make life very difficult for you with Kyle Schwarber, with Trae Turner, and with Bryce Harper, and Trae Turner and Bryce Harper have made life very difficult for the Atlanta Braves over the years, so I would say they’re the more challenging team.” McAuley said.
The Phillies also have some solid starting pitchers that can be troublesome for any lineup and Grant talked about that as well.
“They also have Zack Wheeler who is a front of the rotation starter that any club would be happy to roll into October with. Aaron Nola has had a very up and down season, but he also represents a very nice option for starting in the postseason, and their bullpen is much improved over what it has been the past few years, so I still think they’re the most dangerous club.” Grant said.
To get the Braves the Phillies will have to win a three game series against the Miami Marlins who Grant McAuley says has the pitching to compete in the postseason, but their lineup doesn’t really “strike fear into a pitching staff the way the Phillies do”. The Braves haven’t lost a season series to the Marlins since 2014, and this season Atlanta went 9-4 against Miami. However, the Marlins did get three of those four wins by sweeping the Braves in their final series matchup of the regular season in mid September.
The easier matchup for the Braves is the Marlins, but if the Phillies and Braves do match up in the NLDS you have to think Atlanta will have a little more motivation to eliminate the Phillies considering Philadelphia eliminated Atlanta in the NLDS last postseason.
