The Braves announced their NLDS roster a few minutes ago. You can see it here. There aren’t many surprises.
Takashi Saito is off because his shoulder is still wonky. His replacement — Craig Kimbrel — has been pretty fantastic anyway. Jair Jurrjens is off due to his knee. There are still expectations that he would be able to pitch in the NLCS if the Braves make it that far, but at that point rust, rather than health, may be his biggest concern. I think the Braves are on a three-man rotation for the duration, with Brandon Beachy stepping in if things get out of hand.
The biggest takeaway: oh so many rookies. We’ve known that they have a lot just by watching them, but the youth of this team is really made clear when the names are all listed like that: Jason Heyward, Brooks Conrad, Craig Kimbrel, Cristhian Martinez, Brandon Beachy, Jonny Venters and Mike Dunn.
It’s also, once again, made clear how many tomato cans the Braves are relying on too: Kyle Farnsworth, Rick Ankiel, Nate McLouth and Melky Cabrera, most notable among them. Really: the Giants left Jose Guillen off their roster. There’s an argument that he’d be the second best outfielder on the Braves’ roster.
But, that’s why they play the games . . .
