LOS ANGELES -- Braves manager Brian Snitker wasn’t ready to announce who will serve as his opener in Wednesday's Game 4 of the National League Championship Series following the club's 6-5 loss in Game 3 on Tuesday night. But if history factors into the decision, he might give A.J. Minter another chance to frustrate the Dodgers.
Holding a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, the Braves could go with Minter, Huascar Ynoa or possibly Drew Smyly. They likely wouldn’t let any of them go through Los Angeles' lineup more than once.
“We have good options,” Snitker said. “We have some really good options to start the game for a couple innings or something, and then a lot of guys that are good to go, that are ready to pitch [Wednesday]. So we're just going to figure out how we're going to line it up.”
When Atlanta gave Minter the first start of his professional career last year, he responded by recording seven strikeouts over three scoreless innings in Game 5 of the NLCS against Los Angeles. His ability to potentially neutralize Corey Seager at the top of the lineup and Cody Bellinger near the bottom could lead to him drawing another big assignment against the Dodgers.
Ynoa was one of the Braves’ best pitchers before he broke his right hand by punching a dugout bench in Milwaukee on May 15. But with his fastball-slider mix, Ynoa began to look more like a future reliever as he posted a 5.05 ERA in the nine starts he made after returning from the injured list.
If Atlanta could get Minter and Ynoa to combine for four innings, Smyly might be able to help bridge the gap to the Braves' high-leverage relievers.
Smyly hasn’t pitched in a game since Oct. 2, and with the decreased velocity he has shown over the past few months, he’s not a good matchup against a majority of the Dodgers’ lineup. But he could provide value by covering at least one inning in which he could line up against optimal matchups.
If the Braves get to the seventh inning with a lead, they will once again lean on Tyler Matzek and Luke Jackson, who are the first pitchers in franchise history to appear in each of the team’s first seven postseason games. But with the three days that separated the end of the NL Division Series and the start of the NLCS, Atlanta won’t shy away from using them.
Matzek and Jackson remain the top setup options for closer Will Smith. But Chris Martin’s effective outing in Game 2 might lead to him getting a high-leverage situation within the next couple days. Jacob Webb could also be used to help take some strain off the main relievers.
https://www.mlb.com/news/braves-pitching-plans-for-nlcs-game-4-vs-dodgers
2021-10-20 04:37:27Z
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