MIAMI, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 04: Atlanta Braves players pose for a photo after clinching the division against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot park on October 04, 2022 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
The Braves have no enough “Star powers” to compete with the Dodgers
This offseason, the Los Angeles Dodgers have been trying to assemble the baseball version of the Avengers. The Dodgers have spent $1.1 BILLION on building a team that looks like it was assembled on MLB The Show. They have picked up Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and more as they look to win a World Series that is not a “Mickey Mouse” title. (LA won the COVID championship in 2020 but hasn’t won a full-season championship since 1988.)
Last season, the Dodgers were the No. 2 seed in the National League and, like the Atlanta Braves, got a week off before playing in the National League Divisional Series. LA matched up against the Arizona Diamondbacks and got swept 3-0. Thanks to Rob Manfred, three of the top four seeds in the MLB lost in the Divisional Series. It may not be 100% because of the extra week off, but it didn’t help.
Alanna Rizzo appeared on the MLB Network to discuss if any teams could match up with the Dodgers “Big 4?” The first team she mentioned just happened to be the Atlanta Braves. The criteria for the “Big 4” is your first three hitters and a starting pitcher. For the Dodgers, you are looking at Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Shohei Ohtani, and Yoshi Yamamoto. To combat that for Atlanta you have Ronald Acuna Jr., Ozzie Albies, Matt Olson, and Spencer Strider/Max Fried.
That is just a “Big 4” but I would still take our guys every time. Acuna Jr., Betts, Freeman, and Olson were the top four players in the NL MVP race. Ohtani won the AL MVP and although Ozzie Albies was not in those conversations, he is still a great baseball player. This also comes down to pitching. I know that Yamamoto was incredible at pitching in Japan.
Yamamoto has won three straight “Sawamura Awards.” Those are Japan’s version of the Cy Young Award. He has posted an ERA of 1.70 or under for three years in a row. Japanese pitchers have also transitioned pretty well from Japan to the MLB. Look at Yu Darvish, Masahiro Tanaka, and Shohei Ohtani of course. Still, Yamamoto is unproven in the MLB.
Strider and Max Fried are two of the best pitchers in the MLB and I believe in their ability to show up and show out in each start they appear in. In conclusion, the Braves DO have the star power to go toe-to-toe with the Dodgers. I feel confident enough that I would take the Braves over the Dodgers in any series matchup.
