The series opener between the Braves and Phillies will feature a pitching matchup of absolute polar-opposite starters. You would be hard-pressed to find two pitchers in Major League Baseball with less commonality than a left-hander who barely tops 90 MPH with his fastball and a right-hander who sits in the upper 90’s. Despite their vast differences, Erlin is somehow a more effective strikeout pitcher, which should make for an interesting matchup on Friday.
The Braves hope that Erlin can establish himself as a member of the rotation going forward, but he will likely need better results to achieve that feat.