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Ronald Acuna Jr. and the Braves are rested, but not tested. (Bob Andres / Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
LOS ANGELES – Since the Atlanta Braves last played baseball four days ago, all of the playoff teams have played one game. Two divisions were decided on an equal basis. The Chicago Cubs and Colorado Rockies played nearly five games. hours before a reserve seeker decides that this was enough.
Thus, the Braves rest at a time of year when it is difficult to rest, while they waited behind the scenes while everything was preparing, watching the posterity unfold around them. But they are rested because they are relatively untested, which also makes them unproven, and none of these traits are too useful to enter a series of the National League Division against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday. .
"It was just exciting to watch everything," said Mike Foltynewicz, star of the Braves game 1, at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday. "Especially the last game of the season, the match 163 [for] all four of these teams were exciting. "
But as these games were so exciting to watch – the Milwaukee Brewers beating the Cubs on Monday, the Dodgers beating the Rockies just after, then the Rockies defeating the Cubs on Tuesday night – they were also more exciting to play, a different vibe than the 162 games in the regular season that preceded, one thing most of these young Braves have not experienced yet. The Dodgers fought the Arizona Rockies and Diamondbacks in western Newfoundland throughout the month of September and until October 1st. The Brewers, facing the Rockies in the other SDNL, did the same with the Cubs and Cardinals of St. Louis in central Newfoundland. All of these teams have been playing for weeks in a playoff atmosphere, while the Braves have conquered the NL-East title, while the Philadelphia Phillies have taken off and the Washington Nationals have narrowed down. 39 have never pushed their efforts.
The Braves had been waiting for a while for games to be more important, even if they insisted on Wednesday that every day be treated in the same way.
"All we're doing is sitting watching baseball," Braves reliever Luke Jackson said Wednesday at the Dodger Stadium clubhouse as reporters filled their space and players watched the game. American League Wild Card match on TV. "That's all, that's all we do."
Ronald Acuna Jr. leads the Braves to their first appearance in the playoffs since 2013. (Laurence Kesterson / Associated Press)
Thursday at 8:07 pm At Eastern Time, the Braves will play their first playoff game since 2013. It also means that this will be the first chance for most of their young playoff core, for the rookie's nominee. LN Ronald Acuna Jr., for 20 years. Ozzie Albies, a former second base player, for the 27-year-old Ender Inciarte, etc. It was these players who pulled the Braves out of the mainstream before the summer season, passing mid-summer in front of the Nationals and Phillies and now in the playoffs as the least-announced team in the NL.
They finished with a 16-12 record in September, after finishing with a 17-13 record in August, but kept pace enough while the Nationals and Braves stumbled until the end. The Braves are not exactly "at the peak at the right time," this cliche is often cast whenever postseasons begin. They will have to find their spark and find it quickly.
"I just do not want them to do anything other than what they did, because what they did is good enough, you know?" Braves manager Brian Snitker said on Wednesday if his team needed to find a new level. "Just to play with that emotion, that aggression, and the energy that they've deployed. And I've already been in playoff scenarios, and there's not going to be a shortage of those guys in great shape and ready to go. Let him fly. "
The Dodgers, on the other hand, are stacked with most of the players who helped them to attend the World Series last fall. They added starring star Manny Machado to the trading deadline. They are at the other end of the spectrum and, unlike the recent seasons, when they also started in October, they had to fight for a playoff spot.
They will turn to left-handed Hjun-Jin Ryu on Thursday, surprise surprise by Clayton Kershaw's usual place as star of match 1, while right-handed Foltynewicz will take the mound for the Braves.
"It was hard to participate in the playoffs this year. Colorado has kept it all year. Arizona kept the game close all year round, "said Dodgers championship player Cody Bellinger on Wednesday. "In the past, we had 10 games and more lead each time. So we started in September and October and we had to win this year. And I think it's good for us. As I said, I think we were hot at the right time. We are hot right now and hope this will continue in the series. "
The Braves will now see if they are hot, where their energy is, how ready they are for a moment as strange as you want. Wednesday night, they joined the ground of the Dodger stadium just after 19 hours. with their gloves and bats in hand. This is the usual time for the first launch, when their bodies are conditioned to race on and compete, and their biological clocks are burned in the last six months. Except here, the stands were empty, there was no music, no applause, the only sounds were baseballs hitting the gloves and bursts of laughter under the stage lights.
It was only an occasional training, an extra preparation, but it will be their turn soon. And then each release will count and each launch will import a little more.
Read more:
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