NL DIVISION SERIES: BRAVES VS DODGERS

October 2, 2026

Sean Murphy

Drake Baldwin

Dodger Stadium

Atlanta Braves

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. Obviously as high as you can get yesterday, the confidence level heading into the West Coast is what?

SEAN MURPHY: I'd say it's got to be a 10. We've been playing important games, and we showed up last night. I think everybody contributed. So I feel like everyone's got to be feeling pretty good.

Q. You had a lot of success against the Dodgers during the regular season, but as you know, the postseason is a totally different animal. As you go out there to start out the first couple of games in L.A., what's kind of the focus to really laying the groundwork for the kind of series you guys want to play?

DRAKE BALDWIN: Having some success against them early is always nice. We've seen some of their pitchers, seen some of their arms, and gone up against a good team. So I think it's just kind of going out there and playing our game and knowing that, if we play our game, that we can compete with them and beat them.

Q. This is the first time Freddie -- you guys will be against Freddie in the postseason. How do you feel that Matt Olson, your teammate, has taken on that role since Freddie's been gone and how he's kind of handled all that and just played the way he has?

SEAN MURPHY: If you ask Matt, I don't think he thinks about all that stuff. I think he just goes out and plays his own game. He's who he is every single day. I don't think that would affect him. Obviously he's, I'd say, our captain. He goes out there every single day. He hit 40 home runs. We're lucky and happy to have Matt Olson on our team.

Q. As handling the pitching staff, you've got Chris Sale at the front of that. He showed again last night what makes him so special. After him, there's been a lot of trying to piece it together and a lot of guys who are really stepping up. What have you seen about this staff, especially in the second half, as it's come together and thrown some really important innings, both from guys who stepped into the rotation and of course the bullpen?

DRAKE BALDWIN: You saw it last night, a bunch of guys coming in and really pitching well. They've pitched in big situations during the season, and no matter who we really see right now in that bullpen in any situation, no matter what inning it is, we're feeling pretty confident about them.

It says a lot about them. They came in and attacked and pitched really well. So we have a lot of confidence in all those guys, and a lot of people have stepped up and taken those roles, and a lot of guys who are in those roles have excelled in them.

It's really special to have a pitching staff who's been doing this, and everyone's been all hands on deck and doing whatever it needs to take to win.

Q. I know you guys don't fear or are intimidated by anybody, but what do you respect the most about the way Dodgers go about their business?

SEAN MURPHY: I think they pitch pretty well. Obviously they have some phenomenal hitters in their lineup, but I would say we have the same strengths. At the end of the day, it's baseball. We've got to win 3 games out of 5, and I'll take us over everybody.