<img alt="Washington Nationals v Atlanta Braves" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/p69knIKV-b-BpX5nZ1gyAkcjZ-Y=/560x0:5428x3245/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73470896/2155335982.0.jpg">
Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images
The second half is here and now it’s time for the Braves to hopefully get things going in the right direction. The All-Star break is over and done with and now it’s time to get into the business-end of the season as the Atlanta Braves will start off the second half by hosting the St. Louis Cardinals.
Let’s start off with some good news/bad news. The good news is that (aside from Marcell Ozuna), the entire lineup should be rested and ready to get this second half started on the right foot. The bad news is that they’ll have to deal with Sonny Gray tonight. Gray has been quite easily been the best pitcher on this team not named Ryan Helsley and he’s definitely been carrying his share of the weight at the top of St. Louis’ rotation. He’s been having himself a very good season so far and is already justifying the three-year deal that he signed during the offseason.
While Gray has been great for the Cardinals this season, this doesn’t mean that he’s infallible, though. He’s given up at least three runs in each of his past three starts before the break but he did finish his first half with a seven-inning start against the Cubs. However, if the Braves are going to put those runs on the board against Gray then they’ll likely have to string together some hits instead of going for the long ball. He’s thrown 52.2 innings since May 26 and has given up a grand total of two (2) home runs since then. While it’s always possible that the Braves could break out and just start smacking the ball all over the yard, I wouldn’t count on it tonight.
That means that the onus will once again likely be on Spencer Schwellenbach to help make sure that the Braves are still in a position to win this one. Schwellenbach has also been pitching very well this season and has been putting it together to the point where he’s fitting right in with the rest of what has been one of the best rotations in baseball so far this season. Schwellenbach’s past couple of starts have been very good, as he was able to hold both the Phillies and the Padres (two top-10 offenses in baseball according to wRC+) to one run in both of his starts against them. Additionally, he went six innings against the Phillies and then went seven against the Padres right before the break.
Schwellenbach has been getting the job done on the mound for the Braves so far and he’ll have to contend with a Cardinals lineup that he’ll be seeing for the second time this year. While the results didn’t go his way in that one as he gave up four runs over five innings. However, the Cardinals may have benefited from a crazy amount of BABIP fortune (historically speaking, what else is new) as Schwellenbach left that game with a BABIP against of .533. For comparison’s sake, the second highest BABIP that Schwellenbach has allowed so far was .389 against the Phillies. Folks, that’s what you call an outlier and surely Scwhellenbach will be looking to set the record straight against a lineup that really doesn’t have a lot going on right now outside of Wilson Contreras producing at a high level.
Conventional wisdom suggests that we’re probably going to see a low-scoring game tonight. Both offenses haven’t exactly been setting the world on fire lately but I will give Atlanta’s offense some credit — they’ve scored at least five runs in eight of their past 13 games. The Braves have also gotten shut out twice during that span, so it’s ben a bit of a boom-or-bust scenario for Atlanta at the plate lately. Hopefully we’ll see them boom against a very good pitcher tonight but it also wouldn’t be shocking if this was a tight and tense affair where it comes down to which team can actually get the big hit. Baseball is back and hopefully the Braves can get the second half of the season started off on the right track.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Friday, July 19, 7:20 p.m. ET
Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, Georgia
TV: Bally Sports Southeast
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan
<img alt="Washington Nationals v Atlanta Braves" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/p69knIKV-b-BpX5nZ1gyAkcjZ-Y=/560x0:5428x3245/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73470896/2155335982.0.jpg">
Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images
The second half is here and now it’s time for the Braves to hopefully get things going in the right direction. The All-Star break is over and done with and now it’s time to get into the business-end of the season as the Atlanta Braves will start off the second half by hosting the St. Louis Cardinals.
Let’s start off with some good news/bad news. The good news is that (aside from Marcell Ozuna), the entire lineup should be rested and ready to get this second half started on the right foot. The bad news is that they’ll have to deal with Sonny Gray tonight. Gray has been quite easily been the best pitcher on this team not named Ryan Helsley and he’s definitely been carrying his share of the weight at the top of St. Louis’ rotation. He’s been having himself a very good season so far and is already justifying the three-year deal that he signed during the offseason.
While Gray has been great for the Cardinals this season, this doesn’t mean that he’s infallible, though. He’s given up at least three runs in each of his past three starts before the break but he did finish his first half with a seven-inning start against the Cubs. However, if the Braves are going to put those runs on the board against Gray then they’ll likely have to string together some hits instead of going for the long ball. He’s thrown 52.2 innings since May 26 and has given up a grand total of two (2) home runs since then. While it’s always possible that the Braves could break out and just start smacking the ball all over the yard, I wouldn’t count on it tonight.
That means that the onus will once again likely be on Spencer Schwellenbach to help make sure that the Braves are still in a position to win this one. Schwellenbach has also been pitching very well this season and has been putting it together to the point where he’s fitting right in with the rest of what has been one of the best rotations in baseball so far this season. Schwellenbach’s past couple of starts have been very good, as he was able to hold both the Phillies and the Padres (two top-10 offenses in baseball according to wRC+) to one run in both of his starts against them. Additionally, he went six innings against the Phillies and then went seven against the Padres right before the break.
Schwellenbach has been getting the job done on the mound for the Braves so far and he’ll have to contend with a Cardinals lineup that he’ll be seeing for the second time this year. While the results didn’t go his way in that one as he gave up four runs over five innings. However, the Cardinals may have benefited from a crazy amount of BABIP fortune (historically speaking, what else is new) as Schwellenbach left that game with a BABIP against of .533. For comparison’s sake, the second highest BABIP that Schwellenbach has allowed so far was .389 against the Phillies. Folks, that’s what you call an outlier and surely Scwhellenbach will be looking to set the record straight against a lineup that really doesn’t have a lot going on right now outside of Wilson Contreras producing at a high level.
Conventional wisdom suggests that we’re probably going to see a low-scoring game tonight. Both offenses haven’t exactly been setting the world on fire lately but I will give Atlanta’s offense some credit — they’ve scored at least five runs in eight of their past 13 games. The Braves have also gotten shut out twice during that span, so it’s ben a bit of a boom-or-bust scenario for Atlanta at the plate lately. Hopefully we’ll see them boom against a very good pitcher tonight but it also wouldn’t be shocking if this was a tight and tense affair where it comes down to which team can actually get the big hit. Baseball is back and hopefully the Braves can get the second half of the season started off on the right track.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Friday, July 19, 7:20 p.m. ET
Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, Georgia
TV: Bally Sports Southeast
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan
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