A Duel of Aces: Braves vs. Phillies Series Preview, April 17-19

As the sixth series of the season ends, the Phillies stack up their fourth series loss of the season.

It’s becoming increasingly difficult to be optimistic about this team, especially with how underwhelming the pitching, an oft-thought bright spot of the team, has been as of late. And now, as we enter a series against the team atop the NL East, the Phillies have their backend of the rotation on deck.

The Braves had a managerial shake-up this offseason, departing with their long-time, World Series-winning manager, Brian Snitker, and bringing in Walt Weiss, who’s off to a good start. However, Snitker remained in the organization as a member of their front office. They introduced a new reliever in Robert Suarez, who notably gave up the home run to Bryce Harper in Game 5 of the 2022 NLCS, and a new outfielder in place of Marcell Ozuna, Mike Yastrzemski.

The front office also retained infielder Ha-Seong Kim and reliever Raisel Iglesias, whom the Phillies, and Bryce Harper, specifically, have seen plenty of.

Following the Braves’ series win down in Miami, they hold a three-game lead in the NL East and a 3.5-game lead over the Phillies. Much of the Braves’ success has come from their offense, which sits second in the NL in runs scored, and has only been shut out once. However, atop the Braves’ OPS leaderboard are some unfamiliar names. Jorge Mateo, through 17 at-bats, has a 1.158 OPS, and Dominic Smith, through 41 at-bats, has a 1.099 OPS, with 15 RBIs.

And on the other side of the ball, to no one’s surprise, Chris Sale is still as dominant as he was pre-injury last season and in 2024. Sale has posted a 3.27 ERA through four starts, coupled with 22 punch-outs. Sale is projected to throw on Saturday against the Phillies.

It will be a tough match-up against the leaders in the NL East, but they pose a chance to flip this season, which is seemingly sinking through 18 games.

A Battle of the Aces

The Phillies have moved Cristopher Sanchez‘s start up a day to Saturday, and are giving Andrew Painter an extra day of rest for a start on Sunday. This means the Saturday’s match-up is set to be Sale vs. Sanchez, a battle of two Cy-Young caliber pitchers.

Considering Friday’s pitchers’ duel is hardly that, with Taijuan Walker on the mound, this would be a momentous win to pick up. Sale is entering a second prime, showcasing a fastball that has reached numbers on the radar gun he hasn’t seen before. However, he is a start off from a two-home-run, six-run outing against the Angels, which means he’s not untouchable.

Most of his runs allowed have been from the long ball, something Phillie fans are familiar with. Currently, the Phillies sit sixth in home runs hit, just a few behind the Braves. If there’s one way to get to Sale, it’s home runs, and that seems to be a strength of this weak Phillies offense.

Trouble with the Southpaws

Through 18 games, the Phillies have faced two left-handed relievers, who opened for the opposing teams’ right-handed starters. Teams are starting to realize: the Phillies can’t hit left-handed pitching.

The Phils are straying away from the overdone lefty-righty-lefty-righty and so on lineup, in favor of a top of the order that has back-to-back left-handed bats in Harper and Kyle Schwarber. It makes more sense this way — Harper protects Schwarber and Trea Turner gets to lead-off and have fun on the basepaths.

But this has led to teams throwing a lot more left-handers against the Phillies. And in turn, the Phillies are struggling. They’re hitting .176 with a .537 OPS, which ranks 27th and 28th in the league, respectively.

Unfortunately for the Phils, they’re facing two left-handed starters in Sale and Martin Perez. Fortunately for the Phils, the Braves’ two best relievers are right-handers in Suarez and Iglesias. And for a team that has the second-worst average in the seventh inning or later, the relievers offer a chance to change that.

Notably, expect to see Bryson Stott catch a day off for Edmundo Sosa in one of the left-handed starter games, and Otto Kemp to find a start somewhere in the outfield.

Everybody do the Bullpen Shuffle

The Phillies’ bullpen was expected to be a bright spot this season, with the addition of Brad Keller and Kyle Backhus, who looked phenomenal in Spring Training, and the reintroduction of Jhoan Duran and Jose Alvarado.

The bullpen went on a 16-inning scoreless streak out in San Francisco, but since then, it’s been messy. Alvarado has struggled as a set-up man, posting a 12.60 ERA and a .529 batting average on balls in play. Keller has a 4.20 ERA, and Backhus was sent down to the minor leagues, though recently recalled in the bullpen shuffle, which has put Zack Pop on the injured list, brought Seth Johnson up, and back down, and brought Chase Shugart up.

Like I said, messy.

And just as messy is their ERA, which sits 20th in the league at 4.66.

They’ll need to right the ship, and Rob Thomson will need to demote Alvarado to a lower role. One bright spot they’ve found is Tim Mayza, who, outside of Tuesday’s appearance, has been shut down.

The Braves will be a difficult series, with their combination of left-handed starters and red-hot offense; the Phillies’ bullpen will need to be spot-on, and the offense will need to provide in Saturday’s duel of aces.

Game Times and Broadcast

Friday, April 17, 6:40 PM ET, NBC Sports Philadelphia, 94.1 WIP

Saturday, April 18, 7:15 PM ET, FOX, 94.1 WIP

Sunday, April 19, 7:20 PM ET, NBC Sports Network, Peacock, 94.1 WIP

Pitching Matchups

Game 1: Taijuan Walker (RHP, 1-2, 7.36 ERA) vs. Martin Perez (LHP, 0-1, 3.14 ERA)

Game 2: Cristopher Sanchez (LHP, 2-1, 2.01 ERA) vs. Chris Sale (LHP, 3-1, 3.27 ERA)

Game 3: Andrew Painter (RHP, 1-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Andrew Painter (RHP, 1-0, 3.77 ERA)

By the Numbers

• Records 
• Phillies: 8-10
• Braves: 12-7

• Run Differential 
• Phillies: -25
• Braves: 44

• Runs Scored Per Game 
• Phillies: 4.00
• Braves: 5.58

• Runs Allowed Per Game 
• Phillies: 5.39
• Braves: 3.26

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