3 storylines to watch out for in Brewers and Braves' Little League Classic showdown

The Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Braves will face off in this year's Little League Classic tonight, Sunday, August 23. The game, which begins at 6:00 p.m. CT, will air on ESPN.

The Brewers and Braves matchup tonight will be the ninth installment of MLB's Little League Classic, which began back in 2017. The game, once again being played at Bowman Field in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, coincides with the beginning of the Little League World Series, and the players, families, and coaches participating in this year's LLWS will be in attendance to watch the two NL powerhouses finish off their three-game series.

It's a fun, nostalgic event that has helped to grow both interest in MLB and the LLWS over the last decade. The fact that this year's contest will pit the leader of the NL Central (and best team in baseball) against the leader of the NL East simply makes it that much more special. In addition to the novelty of the game, the fact that the Brewers will be the home team at a new stadium for the first time since Miller Park opened in 2001, and the crowd of the world's best Little Leaguers, there are plenty of storylines to watch out for in tonight's clash of division leaders.

3 storylines to follow in tonight's Little League Classic between the Brewers and Braves

1. The season series is on the line as Brewers look to boost chances of first-round bye

The Braves took two out of three when they hosted the Brewers back in mid-June. The series shockingly included losses from both Jacob Misiorowski and Aaron Ashby, before an eight-run second inning in the series finale allowed the Brewers to avoid the sweep. As a result, when the two teams kicked off their current series on Friday night, Atlanta held a 2-1 advantage in the season series.

With the Brewers taking each of the first two games this weekend, they have flipped the script, and now currently lead the season series 3-2. Therefore, tonight's game is an important one. If the Brewers win, they secure the season series over the Braves, and if they lose, it will result in a 3-3 season split between the two division leaders. Such a scenario would force intradivision records to be used in any potential tiebreaker scenarios. Currently, the Brewers have a 22-11 record against their division opponents, and the Braves have a 27-13 record against their NL East counterparts.

The season series only matters if the two teams end the season with identical records, which is starting to grow increasingly unlikely. After their win on Saturday afternoon, the Brewers now have a 6.0-game lead over the Braves in the standings, which also means they have a 6.0-game cushion for a first-round bye. Growing that lead to seven games with just 31 games to go after tonight's contest would be a big boost for the Brew Crew.

2. A pitching matchup with potential postseason implications

Tonight's Little League Classic will pit rookie southpaw Shane Drohan against trade deadline acquisition Tyler Mahle in the pitching matchup. Both pitchers are still in the process of defining their roles on their respective teams for the final stretch of the season and a potential playoff run.

Drohan has bounced between the starting rotation and the bullpen for the Brewers throughout the season, pitching wherever Pat Murphy's squad has needed him. He's been excellent in both roles, with a season-long 3.86 ERA in 100.1 innings to prove it, but it remains to be seen what his role will be for the Brew Crew during the final weeks of the regular season and into the postseason. The belief is that Drohan, who is approaching a career-high in innings pitched in a single season, will soon flip back to the bullpen, where he is likely to reside during the postseason, but as the current No. 5 option behind Jacob Misiorowski, Kyle Harrison, Logan Henderson, and Dustin May, Drohan could certainly continue to be called upon as a starter going forward.

Meanwhile, the Braves were scrambling for starting pitching at the deadline and came away with what initially seemed like an underwhelming addition in right-hander Tyler Mahle. However, in the three weeks since the trade deadline, Mahle has been incredible. The 31-year-old journeyman, who started the year with the San Francisco Giants, has a 1.45 ERA in his three starts with the Braves. If Mahle remains a true impact option alongside Chris Sale in the postseason, it would be a huge development for the Braves, whose starting pitching is their biggest question mark.

3. A Brewers win would give them a winning record against every current division leader

As previously mentioned, the Brewers' season series with the Braves is on the line, but there are even larger implications at play. Should Milwaukee complete the sweep of Atlanta tonight, they will hold a winning record against every current division leader in Major League Baseball.

The Brewers swept the AL-Central-leading Chicago White Sox to start the season, which was immediately followed by taking two out of three against the Tampa Bay Rays, who currently lead the AL East. At the end of May, the Brewers won a series against the Houston Astros, the current leaders of the AL West, at Daikin Park in Houston.

After taking three out of four games against the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier this month, the Brewers solidified their season series win over the defending World Series champions despite losing two out of three in a Memorial Day Weekend series at American Family Field. Milwaukee could complete the clean sweep with a win against the Braves today, which would mean that the Brewers would hold the tiebreaker, whether it be for seeding or home-field advantage in the postseason, over every other current division leader in baseball. It also speaks to just how strong the Brewers have been against good competition this year, boding well for their potential matchups against the league's best teams in the postseason.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow