Phillies Welcome the Braves in Most Important Series Yet.
The Philadelphia Phillies (47-47, 2nd in NL EAST) will welcome the Atlanta Braves (46-48, 3rd in NL EAST) in what will be one of the most important series to tell whether or not this team can win the division.
The Phillies have the upper hand against the Braves this year as they are 7-5 against Atlanta this season and are 5-1 when they play at home against the Braves.
We will see Matt Moore (1-0 5.25 ERA) on the 22nd, Ace Zack Wheeler (7-4 2.44 ERA) on the 23rd, Vinny V ( 3-4 5.00 ERA) on the 24th, and Struggling Aaron Nola (6-6 4.64 ERA) on the 25th.
The Braves will send out former Phil Charlie Morton(8-3 3.69 ERA) on the 22nd, Max Fried on the 23rd (7-5 4.29), Former Phil Drew Smyly (7-3 4.50 ERA) on the 24th, and will round out with Touki Toussaint (1-0 1.35 ERA) on the 25th.
Per Matt Gelb of The Athletic, "Bryce Harper is going to go for an X-ray, Joe Girardi said. Harper would have hit again, but his spot didn't come up. Foul ball hit near top of foot/low ankle area".
Harper would be a big loss for the Phillies in this series. He is batting .287 with 15 home runs and 35 runs batted in.
Aaron Nola has been on a downward spiral as of late. in his last seven games, he is 2-2 with a 6.19 ERA. Nola has just lost himself as a pitcher. He will be a big key on Sunday to get the job done on the series.
A couple of other notes as well, as you know Ronald Acuna Jr. is out indefinitely with a torn ACL and will be out the remainder of the season however, the Braves traded for slugger Joc Pederson of the Cubs to fill the role of Acuna. Pederson fits in nicely with the Braves.
Pederson already has welcomed himself to the organization with a bang. He has a couple of home runs already for the Braves since being traded.
Finally, for the Phillies, relief pitcher Sam Coonrod could make his way back to the bullpen soon. He is currently down in AAA Leigh Valley on a rehab assignment.
With that, we can all hope that the Phillies can rally and win this series against the Braves. This series right here will determine if the Phillies mean business in the National League East.
HOW TO CATCH THE GAME:
WATCH: NBC SPORTS PHILLY/ MY TEAMS APP
LISTEN: 94.1 WIP