LOS ANGELES – While addressing the media at Dodger Stadium on Saturday morning, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman smiled as he said that having an abundance of quality starting pitchers improves his quality of life.
Thanks to an overabundance of injuries, Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos hasn’t been spared from dealing with the unrelenting stress created by a lack of starting pitching depth.
The Braves managed to get through the best-of-three NL Wild Card Series by using two starting pitchers in a traditional manner and a reliever to open the third game. But after the bullpen floundered in a 5-3 Game 1 loss to the Dodgers on Saturday afternoon, there’s reason to ask, does Atlanta have enough pitching to win this NL Division Series?
While pitching is a big-picture concern, the Braves might not have won this game even if Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine or John Smoltz had been starting. Two-time reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal allowed just two hits and one run over six innings while making his first postseason start for the two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers.
Chris Sale might be available to help turn the tide in Sunday’s Game 2. But the fact that he started Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, came out of the bullpen two days later and might start three days after that relief appearance highlights the lack of quality options the Braves have, especially with Bryce Elder (right knee) and Martín Pérez (sore back) not available this round.
Sale and potential Game 3 starter Tyler Mahle are the only members of the NLDS roster who might make a traditional start for Atlanta over the remainder of this series. In other words, Game 1 starter Dylan Dodd might not be the only opener used against the Dodgers.
Following the lead of Ray Kerr, who delivered 3 1/3 scoreless innings in Thursday’s Game 3 win over Philadelphia, Dodd tossed three scoreless innings in this series opener. But as he was being lauded for his efforts, Teoscar Hernández hit a two-run homer off his replacement, Victor Mederos.
Kyle Tucker and Max Muncy extended Los Angeles’ lead with home runs against AJ Smith-Shawver in the sixth.
While the Braves were playing bullpen-door roulette, Skubal was proving how comforting it can be to rely on one pitcher to carry the load. The southpaw surrendered a leadoff single to Drake Baldwin and then retired 15 straight before allowing a solo homer to Sean Murphy in the sixth.
In all best-of-five postseason series, teams taking a 1-0 lead have gone on to win the series 116 of 160 times (73%). In Division Series with the current 2-2-1 format, teams taking a 1-0 lead at home have gone on to win 42 of 56 times (75%).