Phillies vs Braves Opening Day Preview
Well ladies and gentlemen we have a full season of baseball! That’s right the Philadelphia Phillies are back in action with fans in the stands for the first time in over a year! The Phillies will be at home for opening day as they will take on the Atlanta Braves.
The Phillies named Aaron Nola the opening day starter for the fourth time in a row. Aaron Nola is coming off of a great season last year where he went 5 and 5 with a 3.18 earned run average. However, one of his biggest weak points was being able to control a lot of his pitches. That is one tool that during spring training we have seen really improve with Nola so he should be in good shape for the season.
As the city of Philadelphia announced there will be fans allowed at opening day, Citizens Bank Park will have 8,800 fans in attendance and as more people get vaccinated, the more fans will be allowed into the ballpark.
The Phillies are pretty much rolling out the same starting 9 with not many other moves for other positions. The Phillies did re-sign catcher J.T Realmuto and shortstop Didi Gregarious over the offseason to their respective contracts. Overall this lineup has so much depth and pitchers are gonna have a tough time running through the line up.
Let's take a look at the Atlanta braves. The Braves are coming off of a great season as the finished in first place in NL East with a record of 35-25. They will be rolling out Max Fried who can strikeout batters quickly. He's got killer stuff and a lot of movement on his pitches. We could be in for a good ole fashioned pitchers duel for today's game.
Overall these two teams are gonna be big rivals throughout this season as they will be battling for that top spot in the NL East. The one key aspect however that will really show who is the true contender will be their bullpens.
The braves also brought in some reinforcements as well, names like pitcher Charlie Morton, who was an All-Star with the Astros and Rays, and also resigning Marcell Ozuna. The Braves bring speed and power hitting to the table. They have a lot of depth in their lineup as well and Phillies pitchers need be careful of the location they put their pitches because the braves can jump on your pretty quickly.
If you are looking to catch the game, here are matchup details:
Who: Atlanta Braves @ Philadelphia Phillies
Where: Citizens Bank Park
When: First pitch is scheduled for 3:05p.m. est
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia/ My Teams App
Listen: 94.1 WIP