The time for the Dodgers to celebrate their Division Series win over the Giants is done. The champagne was popped and the beer was flowing, but it’s now time to look forward. Los Angeles will head to Atlanta to take on the Braves in the National League Championship Series starting this Saturday.
But the Dodgers have a very tough matchup to start out the series against the Braves. Atlanta announced today that LHP Max Fried would be getting the start in Game 1 to get things started. Los Angeles has yet to officially name a starter, though Max Scherzer is in the running.
Unfortunately for the Dodgers, Fried has been very good over the last 2-plus months of baseball. His last appearance came in the Division Series against the Brewers and shut them down for 6 innings with 9 strikeouts.
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The Dodgers also saw Fried in last year’s NLCS run. He appeared twice in that series and pitched a combined 12.2 innings allowed just 4 earned runs. They also saw him in September when he tossed 6 innings and allowed 2 earned runs on 2 solo homeruns.
In terms of experience against Fried, Trea Turner brings a little bit of an edge. He has gone 7-for-21 in his career against him with a homerun and a pair of runs driven in. Fried has also put up reverse splits in 2021, allowing a .240 batting average to left-handed hitters.
Look for guys like Justin Turner and Trea to keep up their run of success against the Braves’ southpaw to get things started.
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