ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Braves walked off the field a year ago a thoroughly beaten team, their defense of the World Series championship wiped out in less than a week.
Now, they’ve got another shot at the team that delivered the playoff heartache.
The 104-win Braves romped to their sixth straight division title with the major leagues’ best record and a power-packed lineup that tied the team record with 307 homers.
They open the best-of-five NL Division Series on Saturday against the Philadelphia Phillies in a much-anticipated postseason rematch.
“A really cool series on paper, right?” Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber said before a workout at Truist Park.
Led by MVP favorite Ronald Acuña Jr., the first player with 40 homers and 70 stolen bases in a season, the Braves are eager to replicate their run to the World Series championship in 2021.
They’d prefer to forget what happened last October.
After finishing 14 games behind Atlanta during the regular season, the Phillies stunned the Braves in the NLDS.
It wasn’t that close, either.
After splitting the first two games in Atlanta, the Phillies finished off the series by winning the final two on their home field by a combined 17-4.
“What happened last year is in the past,” Acuña, sporting a 40-70 T-shirt, said through an interpreter.
Philadelphia’s upset of the Braves was part of an improbable postseason run that didn’t end until the World Series, when the Phillies finally ran out of steam in a loss to the Houston Astros.
They are determined to finish the job in 2023, and certainly looked up to the task by making quick work of Miami in the wild card round.
Philadelphia swept the upstart Marlins by scores of 4-1 and 7-1, the clincher capped by Bryson Stott’s grand slam.
“Experience is key to a lot of things,” Schwarber said. “When you’re able to draw back on experience and you’re able to lean on experience, that’s going to be huge.”
In an effort to maintain their edge while sitting out a first-round bye, the Braves — who won the season series with the Phillies 8-5 — played three intrasquad games at Truist Park.
They hope that keeping their daily routine as close to normal as possible during a five-day break will lead to a sharper performance against the Phillies this time around.
“Last year was the first time anybody really ever experienced that (long layoff),” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “We thought we did the best we could. But now looking back, this was really good what we did.”
After his historic season, Acuña is eager to shine in the playoffs — especially since he missed out on Atlanta’s World Series title two years ago.
Acuña went down with a season-ending knee injury in 2021, and didn’t make much of an impact in last year’s NLDS as he struggled all season to get back to 100%.
“He’s probably the one guy that’s coming through his skin right now to get this thing started,” Snitker said.
Acuña has plenty of help behind him in the batting order.
Matt Olson set franchise records with 54 homers and 139 RBIs. Marcell Ozuna bounced back from an awful start to hit 40 homers with 100 RBIs. Albies had 33 homers and 109 RBIs, while Austin Riley chipped in with 37 homers and 97 RBIs.
Olson wasn’t the only Atlanta player to set a new franchise standard.
Game 1 starter Spencer Strider broke John Smoltz’s record for strikeouts, leading the majors with 281 Ks in 186 2/3 innings.
The 24-year-old right-hander is also the major leagues’ only 20-game winner, finishing with a 20-5 mark.
Strider was dealing with a lingering oblique injury when he faced the Phillies in last year’s playoffs. He was rocked for five runs in 2 1/3 innings in a 9-1 loss in Game 3.
“It’s always good to be healthy,” Strider said.
The Phillies are going with Ranger Suárez, just as they did in Game 1 of last year’s NLDS, even though the left-hander went only 4-6 with a 4.18 ERA in a season plagued by injuries.
“We all know that the moment’s not going to be too big for Ranger,” manager Rob Thomson said. “He’s a pretty cool cucumber out there.”
Suárez struggled with his control against the Braves in last year’s NLDS, walking five in 3 1/3 innings, but the Phillies held on for a 7-6 victory. He went on to be one of Philadelphia’s most effective postseason pitchers working as both starter and reliever, going 2-0 with a save and a 1.23 ERA.
Suárez got the nod for Game 1 over 15-game winner Taijuan Walker. Zack Wheeler (13-6, 3.61) and Aaron Nola (12-9, 4.46) will start the next two games for the Phillies.
“I know that it hasn’t been the best season of my career,” Suárez said through an interpreter. “But I’m mentally ready for this game. I feel good. I think it’s going to be a beautiful day.”
The Braves’ hopes could rest largely on the health of pitcher Max Fried, sidelined late in the season by a recurring blister on his left index finger.
Fried (8-1, 2.55) pitched one of the intrasquad games with no apparent problems and will get the start in Game 2.
“Everything went great in the intrasquad,” Snitker said. “The finger held up really well. So he’s good to go as far as we’re concerned.”
If Fried’s blister issue pops up again, the Braves will be extremely short on starting pitching.
Fourteen-game winner Charlie Morton is out for the NLDS with a sprained finger, and expected Game 3 starter Bryce Elder (12-4, 3.81) allowed 13 runs, 19 hits and nine walks over 12 1/3 innings in his final three starts.
Atlanta hit 58 more homers than any other team this year, trailed most closely by the Los Angeles Dodgers with 249.
That’s the third-largest differential between the top two clubs since 1900, surpassed only by the 1947 New York Giants (65 more than runner-up Pittsburgh) and the 1936 New York Yankees (59 more than Cleveland).
The Phillies have plenty of power, too, ranking third in the NL and eighth in the majors with 220 homers.
© OfficialAffairs
