Phillies vs Braves Game 1 Odds, Preview

The Philadelphia Phillies stunned the St. Louis Cardinals and will head to Atlanta to take on the Braves in the National League Division series. The teams played 19 times this season and the Atlanta Braves won 11 of them.

The Phillies finished third in the NL East and third on the wild-card race. They went 70-73 with a +12-run differential against everyone else. Bryce Harper had another monster season. Aaron Nola finished second in fWAR and Zack Wheeler finished 11th.

Nick Castellanos has posted a wRC+ above 120 in three of the past four seasons.

Nick Castellanos has been struggling with his hitting since August 1st. He's now hitting for average again and has smacked five dingers in the 34 games since. The Phillies have six plus-hitters in their top half of the lineup. Bryson Stott has hit .300 since the start of August.

Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola are as good of a one-two punch as Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer. Nolas is one of the best pitchers in the game. Wheeler didn't put together the same outing as last year, but putting up an ERA under 2.85 over 150 innings is very solid. The back-half of their rotation will consist of Ranger Suarez, Kyle Gibson and Bailey Falter.

The Phillies finished fourth in the National League in reliever fWAR this season. Their reliever ERA was 4.24, which was 23rd among all MLB teams. Corey Knebel picked up 12 saves, but he was hurt in early August and shouldn't be returning. Brad Hand was another offseason pickup, and Phillies fans are not excited for his return. Jose Alvarado and Seranthony Dominguez are the key to the bullpen.

The Atlanta Braves are going to the playoffs. They won 100 games for the first time since 2003. The team went 18-8 in September. They swept the Mets two weekends ago to clinch their fifth straight National League East title.

Matt Olson helped fill the void left by Freddie Freeman. Austin Riley hit a career-high 38 home runs, Dansby Swanson set career highs in hits, stolen bases and RBI, and Ronald Acuna Jr. was hurt for last season's World Series. The Braves finished second in the National League in runs per game.

Strider's health is a concern for the Braves. Max Fried, Kyle Wright and Charlie Morton are good options in the rotation. Fried is coming off an impressive regular season campaign.

The Braves' bullpen finished second in the NL in ERA, WHIP and batting average against. Kenley Jansen led the league in saves this season. He spent the last 12 years in Los Angeles.