Braves Split with Phillies, Weekend Showdown, 6-Man Rotation?
The Braves offense apparently scored all their runs in Game One of the two-game set against the Phillies these past two days. After dominating the Phils in concert with Spencer Strider setting a single-game strikeout benchmark in his young career to the tune of thirteen punchies; the Braves gave Charlie no run support in Game Two as they fell 3-1 after Nick Castellanos’ two-run bomb in the 8th.
Some positives to carry with us after such a frustrating loss are:
Charlie is pitching well as of late.
Newly acquired Robbie Grossman is batting 1.000 as a Brave after his double off the bricks late yesterday.
Michael Harris’ foot shouldn’t be a problem going forward, after it was announced he should return to the lineup today.
Arcia has two homeruns in the two games since Ehire Adrianza was re-acquired.
Marcell Ozuna & Eddie Rosario look to be getting into rhythm.
Showdown
Yesterday’s loss puts Atlanta 3.5 games back of the New York Mets after the Mets beat the Nationals handily yesterday.
The good news is the Braves could wake up on Monday morning with a 1.5-game division lead, with a sweep of the Mets this weekend.
The potential bad news is that the Braves could wake up on Monday morning 8.5 games behind the Mets & be in the thick of the Wildcard race instead of the division race.
The Braves will see both Max Scherzer & Jacob deGrom this weekend. Two guys that the Braves have historically fared pretty well against. There’s not a team in baseball who feels better about facing those two, than the Braves.
The Braves are also heading into the weekend with their full compliment of relievers, including newcomer Raisel Iglesias. With how lost these two offenses have looked at times this season, this very well could come down to the bullpen; which bodes well for Atlanta, who has the best bullpen in Major League Baseball.
The projected matchups this weekend are as follows:
Thursday-Kyle Wright vs Carlos Carrasco
Friday- Ian Anderson vs Taijuan Walker
Saturday Game 1- Fried/Odorizzi vs TBD
Saturday Game 2- Fried/Odorizzi vs TBD
Sunday- Spencer Strider vs Jacob deGrom
Six-Man Rotation?
The projected matchups suggest the Braves are starting the second half with a 6-man rotation.
The question is: is this going to last more than one turn through or is this a precursor to a shift in the rotation membership?
Before answering, some things to consider:
In 2022, Jake Odorizzi is allowing an average of just under one run per two innings.
Ian Anderson does his best work in the postseason, so I doubt they mess with his confidence by removing him from the rotation a couple months before the postseason.
Charlie Morton isn’t going anywhere.
Spencer Strider is HOT right now, no way they take him out of the rotation.
Sooooooo with all that information & no inside information, they’re either going to roll with a six-man rotation or Odorizzi is now the long relief guy who makes spot starts & is rotation injury insurance.
Thanks for reading!
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