Phillies Opposition Roadblock: Atlanta Braves Series Opener

The Team: Atlanta Braves

The Phillies are finally seeing a different name across the chest of their opponent’s than Washington or New York this weekend. As the Atlanta Braves come into town with an identical 6-9 record, the Phillies look to continue down the path of success they started over the last three nights. As a team, they proved they are not intimidated by some of the most talented pitching staffs in baseball, and kept themselves fighting in every game.

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The Braves are like the Phillies in the sense that they have a mixture of young, promising talent (Dansby Swanson and Ender Inciarte) mixed in with veterans (Matt Kemp, Freddie Freeman, and Brandon Philips) looking to balance a successful roster. Phils fans will see a strong core group of unfamiliar names blended with some very experienced players that are helping to make an exciting transition into the new generation of baseball in the ATL.

As a team, Atlanta is much improved offensively early on in 2017. They are sitting in the middle of the pack of most major offensive statistics. The Phils will be relieved to get away from the league’s second most powerful team (New York) and replace them with a group that has similar power to themselves. The Phils and Braves share a spot in homerun team rankings, each with 16.

Eve the pitching staff has a new look to it. Julio Teheran is the Brave ace, but is followed by veterans, Bartolo Colon, R.A. Dickey, and Jaime Garcia. All three have a history of dominating the Phillies. It will be Colon, Garcia, and 25 year old, Mike Foltynewicz toeing the rubber for the Bravos this weekend.

The Phils are hoping to stay hot to start their homestand.