By: TJ Hartnett

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Sure, it took 19 years, but the Braves are going back to the National League Championship Series.

It’s a great, exciting time to be a Braves fan – the offense has (more or less) been as advertised, the bullpen has been even better than advertised, and somehow the starting pitching has been exceptional, despite being the question mark going into the postseason.

They shut down the Reds and the Marlins to win five straight playoff games, and therefore they’ll head into Monday’s NLCS Game 1 with a ton of momentum – but unfortunately, they’re barreling towards the roadblock that is the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Dodgers were the best team in the National League yet again in 2020 – probably the best team in all of MLB.

This fact has been true for a large majority of the last several years, though it’s not improper (and is entirely fun) to point out that that title has yet to transition over into a World Series win.

Essentially, while Los Angeles is very, very good, they aren’t infallible.

Despite.the name recognition (and track record) the Dodgers’ starters plus the relative unproven status of Atlanta’s;

LA hasn’t pitched as well as the Braves have (to be fair, no one has).

Walker Buehler has pitched well but was pulled after four innings in both of his starts because of a blister on his finger – a good sign for a stellar Braves offense that should be able to feast on a lesser Dodgers’ bullpen.

Kershaw is a more interesting case: His days as the best pitcher on the planet seemed to be behind him before this year, but he came back with some stellar numbers in the regular season.

That being said, his postseason reputation has never been the shiniest – but his first start in the Wild Card Round was an absolute gem: 13 strikeouts over 8 shutout innings; he followed that up with a more-mortal 6 innings against San Diego in the Division Series, giving up 3 runs.

The Braves offensive fortunes may depend on which Clayton Kershaw decides to show up to the ballpark on Monday.

Dave Roberts used David May as an opener in Game 3 against the Padres, but it seems likely that the young, flamethrower will get a more traditional start against Atlanta’s Kyle Wright on Wednesday.

It’s Game 4 when the question marks will really start coming out particularly for the Braves, who don’t have a dependable starter after their first three (and with no off days during the Championship Series, starting Fried on short rest is only an option for Game 5.

In short, the Braves have a big challenge ahead of them – but a poetic one. The Dodgers being Atlanta’s opponent likely sends shivers down the spines of most in Braves Country just based In the previous 3 trips to the playoffs (2013 and 2018); and the 2018 squad is mostly still around.

Betts, of course. In a way, the Dodgers have been haunting Atlanta for more than half a decade, crushing their postseason aspirations.

A victory against LA would be a cathartic one for the team and those that follow it. The only thing potentially sweeter would be if the Braves had faced and defeated St. Louis to get to this point. That being said, if the Braves do take the NLCS, they’d have a chance to bust another ghost in a potential matchup against the Astros, who ended Atlanta’s historic run of 14-straight division titles in first-round defeats in 2004 and 2005).

But one thing at a time.