Atlanta Braves: Dallas Keuchel or Mike Soroka Starts NLDS?
The Atlanta Braves are ready to take on any opponent in the NLDS but now they must figure out who will take the ball in Game 1. Will it be newcomer Dallas Keuchel or the youngster Mike Soroka? What’s interesting about the Braves pitching staff this season is that they have 96 wins and still no clear indication of who their Ace is.
According to Josh Matthews of Tomohawk Take, Kcheuel deserves the start due to his postseason experience. In nine starts, he’s 4-2 with 48 strikeouts with an ERA of 3.31 in 51.2 innings pitched. On the other side of that coin is Soroka who has no postseason experience. But this season, Soroka has the lowest ERA of the starting staff with 2.60.
When breaking down the reasons for his decision, Matthews stated:
To be clear, I think the overall answer to this question is likely Mike Soroka, but half of a season of Dallas Keuchel looked awfully good. In the postseason, Keuchel should be our ‘ace’ and he should start game 1 of the NLDS.
But the wild card here would also be what to do with Max Fried? This season the 25-year old won 17 games but this is not about the regular season. The Braves are trying to win here and experience is key. It’s time for them to take a page out of the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox or even their own when Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, and Tom Glavine were throwing sties. Lead with the veteran.
Game One is vitally important, so why throw the youngin into the fire when a crafty veteran who has been in the postseason is waiting in the wings? One more parting note from Matthews when making a case for Keuchel;
For the Atlanta Braves in 2019, Keuchel has registered quality starts in 12 of 18 appearances, and has only allowed more than three runs four times, and only pitched less than five innings once (August 8 vs. Miami, where he gave up 8 runs).
Since that start, he’s allowed two or fewer runs in seven of his last eight starts. His lone bad start over that stretch was to the Phillies.
There you have it, Sokora has been good, but Dallas Keuchle is the man the Atlanta Braves should want with the ball in his hands for Game One.
Mark has been covering Sports and Entertainment for the past six years. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox Sports, Teen Vogue, and many other websites.
