Braves to face Miami Marlins in NLDS

After shutting out the Reds in both games of the Wild Card Round, the Atlanta Braves will face the Miami Marlins in the NLDS starting on Tuesday.

The Braves are quite familiar with their NL East foes, who surprisingly finished second in the National League East this year. Atlanta went 6-4 against Miami this year, including three out of four wins during the final week of the regular season to clinch the division title for the third straight year.

The Marlins are a pesky bunch who finished 18th in MLB in offense (wRC+) but 27th in team pitching (WAR). They hit a combined .244/.319/.384 on the season. They are bit unconventional as they were No. 2 in stolen bases but bottom-five with just 60 home runs. One thing to keep an eye on is the health of Starling Marte, who suffered a broken pinky finger in the Wild Card Round. His availability for the NLDS is unclear.

As a team, the Marlins posted a 4.86 ERA and 5.04 FIP as they finished with a 31-29 record. Their biggest strength is the top of their rotation, headlined by Sixto Sanchez, Sandy Alcantara and Pablo Lopez. The name of the game for Atlanta will be getting into the Marlins bullpen, which was truly awful with a 5.50 ERA and 5.65 FIP. It was arguably the worst bullpen in baseball this year.

Game One of the NLDS is scheduled for Tuesday, October 6th. The series will be played at Minute Maid Park in Houston.