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The Atlanta Braves were two games from the end of their first road trip under new manager Walt Weiss when Braves starter Reynaldo López threw a pitch up and in to the Angels’ Jorge Soler with a 96-mph fastball. Soler responded by charging the pitcher only to be tackled by Weiss, who holds a black belt in taekwondo.
The Braves rallied to win that game and move into first in the National League East and they stayed there the rest of the season. For the scrappy Weiss, who didn’t post a winning record in four seasons as manager in Colorado, that moment gave him the chance to show he had his team’s back and cement his reputation in the clubhouse as a player’s manager.
“There’s not a guy in here who doesn’t respect Walt,” first baseman Matt Olson said.
And the Braves responded, winning 94 games to return to the playoffs a year after finishing 20 games back in the division standings. And they did that with a balanced team, one that finished third in the league in pitching with a 3.63 ERA and seventh in scoring.
Kiké Hernández, the Dodgers’ Mr. October, says L.A. is the team to beat in the MLB playoffs, but stresses the importance of “taking care of business.”
Atlanta can slug, with eight players hitting 12 or more home runs led by Olson’s 41, while ageless left-hander Chris Sale was second in the league in ERA (2.16), fourth in strikeouts (200) and fifth in wins (14).
Most significant, the Braves had the best record of any National League opponent against the Dodgers this season, winning five of six games.
Here are nine things to know about the Braves heading into Game 1 of the NL Division Series with the Dodgers on Saturday.
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Arms limitations
Left-hander Martín Pérez (9-9, 3.04) is on the injured list because of back inflammation and isn’t expected to be activated for the NLDS, but right-hander Bryce Elder (8-8, 4.11), who underwent knee surgery in early September, could be available, which would strengthen a rotation that’s missing four starters.
Fortunately, the Braves have a Cy Young candidate in Sale (14-9, 2.16 ERA). The left-hander gave Atlanta a solid 6-1/3 innings in the Game 1 win over Philadelphia in the wild-card series and then got the last four outs of Game 3 this week. Journeyman Tyler Mahle, who went 4-1 with a 1.99 ERA after coming over from the San Francisco Giants in August, gave up just a run in 6-2/3 strong innings in Game 2 in his postseason debut.
After that, however, Weiss will have to lean heavily on his bullpen, and fortunately he has a good one: Atlanta relievers were second in the league in ERA (3.44) and saves (49). Cuban closer Raisel Iglesias had 34 of those saves (in 37 opportunities), blowing just one chance since July 26.
Because of an ailing right knee, the Dodgers don’t really know what you might see out of Freddie Freeman this postseason.
Set-up man Robert Suárez missed more than three months because of elbow inflammation but made two appearances in the final week of the regular season to finish 4-0 with a 1.06 ERA in 33 games. Ahead of him, Didier Fuentes (7-2, 2.45), Dylan Lee (6-1, 3.09), Dylan Dodd (4-1, 2.54) and Brent Suter (2-0, 1.63 with the Braves) give Atlanta perhaps the deepest bullpen in the playoffs.
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Braves’ new world
The Braves have won five straight against the Dodgers — including a late August sweep at Truist Park that included a matchup between Sale and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, in which Sale tossed a five-hitter, his only complete game and shutout of the season.
The Dodgers, who lost a season series to the Braves just one other time since 2013, slashed .196/.281/.299 against Atlanta pitching, their worst numbers against any opponent this season. The Braves also led the majors with a 24-9 record against left-handed starters; the Dodgers figure to start two left-handers in the division series.
Here’s how some of the key Dodgers hitters and pitchers are trending going into the NL division series.
Elder was particularly tough against the Dodgers, giving up just three runs in 11-2/3 innings while beating them twice.
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A glove above
Michael Harris II hasn’t won a Gold Glove yet — but he will. According to advanced fielding metrics, no player in the league made a bigger defensive contribution to his team than the Braves center fielder, an elite defender with a strong arm who takes clean routes to the ball. Harris, the 2022 NL rookie of the year, didn’t make an error in 141 starts, while his 364 putouts were third in the league.
Harris also was the Braves’ leading hitter, batting .294, which ranked sixth in the NL, and he topped the team in hits (174) and doubles (36) while slugging 26 homers with 87 RBIs. All those numbers are career bests. Plus, he hit .348 against the Dodgers.
When Miguel Rojas first returned to the Dodgers in 2023, he didn’t necessarily expect this chapter of his career to be so meaningful. Now, he faces a decision about retirement.
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After further review...
Few teams made umpires look better than the Braves, who lost nearly 47% of their ABS challenges this season. The Braves’ hitters were especially bad, winning just 41.7% of the time, the worst rate in the majors. Olson had the team’s worst record, losing 14 of 20 challenges.
The Dodgers weren’t much better, though. They won just 54.5% of their challenges, 50.9% at the plate and 58.3% on the mound.
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Main man
(Brynn Anderson / Associated Press)
Ronald Acuña Jr. may have an MVP award and a World Series ring, but he got that ring in 2021, when he watched the Braves win the championship while recuperating from a torn anterior cruciate ligament. When he’s been on the field in the playoffs, he’s struggled more than he’s succeeded, with more strikeouts than hits in seven postseason series before this fall.
But he’s still the most important hitter in the Braves’ lineup and one with which the Dodgers must be careful: In Atlanta wins, Acuña hit .298 with 16 homers and 17 steals. In games the Braves lost, he hit .186, had just four homers and struck out a third of the time. Contain Acuña and you contain the Braves.
Acuña missed most of June and July because of a hamstring injury but played his best baseball down the stretch, hitting .307 with seven home runs in 22 games in September, his best month.
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Winners dig the long ball
Sarah Langs of MLB.com found that teams who out-homered their opponents in the postseason went 30-5 last year and 23-8 in 2024. In this series, you could call it a draw since the Braves and Dodgers both hit 204 home runs in the regular season, trailing only the Chicago Cubs among NL playoff teams.
The Braves had five players finish the season with at least 20 home runs, led by Olson, who tied for third in the NL with 41.
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Iron man
Olson isn’t just a slugger, he’s also a three-time Gold Glove winner at first base who hasn’t missed a game since May 1, 2021, when he was with the Oakland Athletics.
Olson’s 944 consecutive games played is the longest streak in the majors and the eighth-longest all time. But he’s struggled against the Dodgers, slashing .201/.301/.375 with five home runs in 40 career games.
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He’s managing just fine
The Braves won the World Series in 2021, then won more than 100 games in each of the next two seasons under manager Brian Snitker. But they hit hard times last year, finishing eight games below .500 and missing the playoffs for the first time since 2017. So general manager Alex Anthopoulos replaced Snitker with his bench coach, Weiss, and the Braves never looked back.
Yes, the Dodgers are in the midst of a historic run. They are aiming to become the first NL team to claim three straight championships. But how long can this last?
Weiss had to work through a rash of injuries that forced him to juggle his lineup all season. Acuña played fewer than 110 games for a third straight season, and shortstop Ha-Seong Kim had a career-low 129 at-bats — and hit a career-low .116 — while 16 pitchers wound up making starts and 10 relievers were used to close out games. But Weiss managed to make it all work.
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Home improvement
Anthopoulos’ makeover didn’t stop with the manager. Last winter, the general manager committed $61 million to re-sign Iglesias, Sale, second baseman Ozzie Albies and Kim. He also lured Suárez away from the San Diego Padres with a three-year, $45-million contract, signed outfielder Mike Yastrzemski and traded for invaluable utility player Mauricio Dubón, the only Honduran in the major leagues.
All played key roles for the Braves this summer.
The postseason starts Tuesday, and it could be the last we see of Major League Baseball for a long, long time. You’ll hear a lot about how the way this postseason sets up could impact the bargaining.
Then, in August, Anthopoulos traded for outfielder Lane Thomas, Suter and Mahle, who was 3-9 with a 5.13 ERA in 18 starts with the Giants but became one of Atlanta’s top pitchers down the stretch.
Anthopoulos’ roster construction was widely criticized, but the Braves took the division lead on April 8 and stayed there for the rest of the season, proving him right.
“You have to do what you feel is right for the organization,” he said.
