The Atlanta Braves have breezed right past their first two opponents, the Cincinnati Reds and the Miami Marlins, and are in the NLCS in Arlington, Texas.
The Braves won their first two series in about as impressive fashion as one could imagine. They have only trailed for a total of five innings and have posted four shutouts in the five games.
But the Braves' next opponent is a much different story than the Reds and Marlins. Similar to the Braves, the Los Angeles Dodgers are 5-0 in the playoffs after being the best team in the NL all season.
The Dodgers, who are in their fourth NLCS in the last five years, can do everything the Braves can, and maybe a little bit better than the Braves can.
The Dodgers and Braves were the top two teams in all of baseball in both runs and home runs during the season. Both can certainly put runs on the scoreboard, but the Dodgers also boast the pitching staff to compete with Atlanta.
In the regular season the Dodgers team ERA was the best in baseball, the Braves ranked 15th. In the playoffs the Braves posted the best team ERA through two series, and the Dodgers are right behind them in second.
As good as the Braves trio of Max Fried, Ian Anderson, and Kyle Wright have been, the Dodgers will counter with Walker Beuhler, Clayton Kershaw, and Julio Urias.
Atlanta Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos knows this will be a much different series than the first two and previewed some of the challenges the Dodgers present when he joined John and Hugh on Friday morning.
"We just need to execute. Any short series, who shows up, who has a big series, who doesn’t make mistakes," explains Anthopoulos. "The biggest thing is we can be on the same field as those guys, we have the talent and ability to win, it’s just a matter of getting some breaks and guys having a good series"
To hear all of Alex Anthopoulos' comments, click here.