That's a 36.5% strikeout rate - way up from his 25.4% rate in the regular season. 245/.288/.429 in the postseason with 19 strikeouts and just three walks. Schoenfield: We mentioned Bregman above, so let's go with his third-base counterpart, Austin Riley, who is hitting a lukewarm. He turned the American League Championship Series with his Game 5 dominance of the Boston Red Sox, and the Astros need him to do that again. If the Astros get some traffic on the bases for him, Correa might be poised to cash in. 930 OPS against changeups for his career and 1.066 this season. Game 3 will be pivotal and with Ian Anderson going for Atlanta, Correa's penchant for mashing changeups might come in pretty handy. Not only what the Braves will do in Game 5, but does Snitker manage his staff any differently in Games 3 and 4, knowing he'll need a lot of bullpen innings in Game 5 without Morton? Which player is going to be the biggest difference-maker going forward?ĭoolittle: It's a hard thing to predict, but let's go with Carlos Correa. It didn't matter in the end, since the Braves never got back in the game, but thinking ahead let's see what happens in Games 3-4-5. Minter was probably unavailable for Game 2. The Braves had to use their top four relievers to secure Game 1 and at the minimum, A.J. Schoenfield: It's the ripple effect, beyond just the loss of not having Morton for Game 5. But the biggest blow will simply be missing Morton's start when it comes up in the rotation again. They'll need every arm possible for Games 4 and 5. He ate up some innings after getting hit around a bit. It's why Max Fried going just five innings in Game 2 was a topic of conversation afterward. He was money in the bank for a late start or relief appearance, while Braves skipper Brian Snitker admitted they may have to piece two games together using their bullpen. Rogers: It will be felt late in the Series. Atlanta's rotation was a theoretical strength over the Astros, but that edge may be gone unless a hero emerges. Now the Braves will spend the next few days trying to figure out how to cover those innings. Morton would've started Game 5 and perhaps worked in relief in Game 7, if necessary. "That's like us losing Lance McCullers." He's right. Olney: I asked Astros manager Dusty Baker that question before Game 2, and he was pretty direct. How much of a blow was the Braves losing their ace, Charlie Morton? The first two games of this Series haven't been compelling, and that's been a trend all postseason for Houston. In fact every other game they've played - win or lose - has been decided by four or more runs. And even that one got close with a ninth-inning home run. They've played exactly one game decided by one run out of their 12 playoff games this month. Rogers: I'm going to add more than just the first two games to this discussion as I've covered the Astros the whole postseason. But he seems completely lost at the plate, feeling for the ball. 2 because he thought he should've been the No. Olney: Alex Bregman has always been one of the most confident players in baseball - for example, his self-confidence has been so strong that he wears No. Nevertheless, a betting man would put his money on this not continuing. Alex Bregman has a 50% chase rate and is still looking for his first hit, and Yuli Gurriel, Jose Altuve and Chase McCormick are also at 50% or higher. It's only two games, but it's worth watching, especially since it's not just Jose Siri's start driving up the number. Their chase rate over two games (39.1%) is way higher than their regular-season average and is way over the worst figure for any team during the regular season (Marlins, 31.0%). The Astros have expanded the zone more than they usually do. There's not been a lot of stuff that you'd consider totally off-script. What has surprised you most about this World Series through the first two games?ĭoolittle: Charlie Morton's Bob Gibson imitation was pretty surprising. We asked ESPN baseball experts Bradford Doolittle, Buster Olney, Jesse Rogers and David Schoenfield to answer some of the key questions. What have we learned so far in the Series? What can we expect next? Has anything we've seen made us rethink our initial Fall Classic predictions? The 2021 World Series between the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros is knotted at a game apiece as it heads to Atlanta for Friday's Game 3. World Series 2021: What's next for Braves-Astros? Answering the key questions after two games You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser
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