<img alt="New York Mets v Los Angeles Angels" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ag6UzyymA_CEHtWsU32hhLKLkfI=/0x0:4492x2995/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73525469/2165105076.0.jpg">
Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images
The Braves will face old friend Ron Washington for the first time since he joined the Angels. After a series win in San Francisco, the Atlanta Braves will try to build some momentum when they face they begin a three-game series against the Los Angeles/Anaheim Angels Friday. The Braves won the first three games in San Francisco before getting shut out 6-0 in the series finale Thursday. Atlanta is 65-57 for the season and currently hold a two-game edge over the New York Mets for the final Wild Card spot.
Before Thursday’s shutout, the Braves offense had been showing signs of life. They have 17 home runs on the road trip and homered four times in Wednesday’s win. One of those was a grand slam from Michael Harris II, who just returned to the lineup after missing two months with a strained hamstring. While they got Harris back, they saw another outfielder go down, because of course they did: new addition Jorge Soler left Wednesday’s game with a sore hamstring. Brian Sntiker said Thursday that Soler is dealing with a mild hamstring strain and is day-to-day. Soler told MLB.com’s Mark Bowman that he hopes to return over the weekend, but expect the Braves to play it safe with him, especially with a big series against the Phillies looming next week.
The weekend’s series will be a reunion of sorts. Ron Washington left the Braves during the offseason to become the Angels’ new manager and took erstwhile Atlanta first base coach Eric Young Sr. with him to serve as his bench coach. It has been a tough first season for the pair as the Angels enter the series with a 52-69 record. They have lost three straight games and six of their last 10 overall.
Aside from a 15-11 June, it’s been a miserable campaign in Anaheim, as their best winning percentage in any other month is just .440. They had a 2-11 stretch from late April into May 1, a 1-8 stretch from late May into June 2, another 1-9 stretch from the end of June into early July, and are in a 1-5 stretch right now. They’re bottom ten in pretty much everything, with especially bad performance from their defense and bullpen.
Zach Neto is one of their few bright spots with a 121 wRC+, though he is outhitting his xwOBA a bit, and playing relatively poor defense at shortstop. Jose Soriano has been an interesting find in a starting role, but again, there’s not much else to talk about with this team. The Angels have given a bazillion PAs to random veteran journeymen, almost all of whom have been worse than useless; they’ve used 14 different starting pitchers, of whom only three have really been worthwhile, and one of those, Patrick Sandoval, is down for the count with elbow issues.
Former Braves outfielder Kevin Pillar joined the Angels after he was cut by the White Sox in April and is hitting .285/.315/.435 with 12 homers in 63 games, and has been their one non-terrible journeyman pickup. Mike Trout has spent most of the season on the Injured List and won’t return due to a knee injury. The Braves haven’t seen Trout in the lineup since the 2014 season.
Friday, August 16, 9:38 p.m. ET (Bally Sports Southeast)
Spencer Schwellenbach (12 GS, 70.2 IP, 26.8 K%, 4.2 BB%, 3.95 ERA, 3.33 FIP)
Spencer Schwellenbach will look to continue his good work when he takes the ball in Friday’s series opener. It is hard to imagine where the Braves might be if not for Schwellenbach, who has emerged as a reliable option despite throwing a career-high in innings. Since the beginning of July, Schwellenbach has a 2.54 ERA and a 2.77 FIP over his last six starts and has 45 strikeouts and just three walks over that span. He allowed two runs and struck out seven over six innings in his last outing against the Rockies at Coors Field.
Jose Soriano (21 G, 19 GS, 109.2 IP, 20.4 K%, 9.3 BB%, 3.36 ERA, 3.82 FIP)
Schwellenbach will be opposed by right-hander Jose Soriano, who will get the start in the opener for the Angels. Soriano has been a solid contributor for an Angels rotation that has struggled. He returned from a stretch on the Injured List on July 12 and has a 3.13 ERA and a 3.61 FIP over his last 37 1/3 innings. He allowed one run and struck out seven in six innings against the Nationals in his last start. Soriano made a relief appearance against the Braves last season where he allowed a hit and two walks in 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Saturday, August 17, 9:38 p.m. ET (Bally Sports Southeast)
Chris Sale (22 GS, 134.2 IP, 33.3 K%, 5.6 BB%, 2.61 ERA, 2.12 FIP)
Chris Sale will start on regular rest Saturday and will be looking to further strengthen his Cy Young candidacy. Sale is coming off one of his most dominant outings where he went head-to-head with Blake Snell and blanked the Giants for seven innings while recording a season-high 12 strikeouts. Sale has allowed two runs or fewer in 11 straight starts. Sale has been lights out in his career against the Angels, with a 1.06 ERA, 1.92 FIP, and 2.16 xFIP across nearly 60 innings, but hasn’t faced them since the 2019 season.
Griffin Canning (24 GS, 128.2 IP, 16.7 K%, 8.4 BB%, 5.11 ERA, 5.19 FIP)
Right-hander Griffin Canning will make his 25th start of the season for the Angels in Saturday’s game. Canning brings a sad 122 ERA- and 122 FIP- into Saturday’s start, but has helped eat innings for Ron Washington’s club. A part-timer in Anaheim’s rotation going back to 2019, he was mostly a league-average innings-eater until a mini-breakout last year suggested some room for growth, but he’s slammed back into worse-than-mediocrity this year. He allowed four runs and didn’t strike out a batter in seven innings in his last start against the Nationals, which was amusing because he set a season high in strikeouts with eight in the start before that. Saturday’s start will be Canning’s first career appearance against the Braves.
Sunday, August 18, 4:07 p.m. ET (Bally Sports Southeast)
Charlie Morton (22 GS, 120.2 IP, 23.5 K%, 8.6 BB%, 4.40 ERA, 4.70 FIP)
Atlanta will go with Charlie Morton in the series finale Sunday. Morton needed a good outing and delivered in San Francisco, allowing two runs while striking out eight over six innings against the Giants. Morton has largely alternated good and bad starts throughout the second half, and really, the season as a whole; the Braves need him to find some consistency for the stretch run. Morton has a 3.90 ERA but a horrid 5.09 FIP and a so-so 4.27 xFIP in 11 career starts against the Angels. He faced them once last season where he allowed three runs and struck out eight over six innings.
Jack Kochanowicz (3 GS, 14.2 IP, 10.9 K%, 6.3 BB%, 7.98 ERA, 6.11 FIP)
Young right-hander Jack Kochanowicz will make his fourth career start in the finale Sunday. Kochanowicz made the jump from Double-A and made his major league debut on July 11 against the Mariners. He allowed 11 earned runs seven innings combined across his first two starts. He pitched better in his last one, though, allowing just two runs over 7 2/3 innings against the Nationals. He’s allowed a homer in each of his three starts so far, and has yet to have a strikeout total exceeding his walk total by more than one in any of them.
<img alt="New York Mets v Los Angeles Angels" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ag6UzyymA_CEHtWsU32hhLKLkfI=/0x0:4492x2995/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73525469/2165105076.0.jpg">
Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images
The Braves will face old friend Ron Washington for the first time since he joined the Angels. After a series win in San Francisco, the Atlanta Braves will try to build some momentum when they face they begin a three-game series against the Los Angeles/Anaheim Angels Friday. The Braves won the first three games in San Francisco before getting shut out 6-0 in the series finale Thursday. Atlanta is 65-57 for the season and currently hold a two-game edge over the New York Mets for the final Wild Card spot.
Before Thursday’s shutout, the Braves offense had been showing signs of life. They have 17 home runs on the road trip and homered four times in Wednesday’s win. One of those was a grand slam from Michael Harris II, who just returned to the lineup after missing two months with a strained hamstring. While they got Harris back, they saw another outfielder go down, because of course they did: new addition Jorge Soler left Wednesday’s game with a sore hamstring. Brian Sntiker said Thursday that Soler is dealing with a mild hamstring strain and is day-to-day. Soler told MLB.com’s Mark Bowman that he hopes to return over the weekend, but expect the Braves to play it safe with him, especially with a big series against the Phillies looming next week.
The weekend’s series will be a reunion of sorts. Ron Washington left the Braves during the offseason to become the Angels’ new manager and took erstwhile Atlanta first base coach Eric Young Sr. with him to serve as his bench coach. It has been a tough first season for the pair as the Angels enter the series with a 52-69 record. They have lost three straight games and six of their last 10 overall.
Aside from a 15-11 June, it’s been a miserable campaign in Anaheim, as their best winning percentage in any other month is just .440. They had a 2-11 stretch from late April into May 1, a 1-8 stretch from late May into June 2, another 1-9 stretch from the end of June into early July, and are in a 1-5 stretch right now. They’re bottom ten in pretty much everything, with especially bad performance from their defense and bullpen.
Zach Neto is one of their few bright spots with a 121 wRC+, though he is outhitting his xwOBA a bit, and playing relatively poor defense at shortstop. Jose Soriano has been an interesting find in a starting role, but again, there’s not much else to talk about with this team. The Angels have given a bazillion PAs to random veteran journeymen, almost all of whom have been worse than useless; they’ve used 14 different starting pitchers, of whom only three have really been worthwhile, and one of those, Patrick Sandoval, is down for the count with elbow issues.
Former Braves outfielder Kevin Pillar joined the Angels after he was cut by the White Sox in April and is hitting .285/.315/.435 with 12 homers in 63 games, and has been their one non-terrible journeyman pickup. Mike Trout has spent most of the season on the Injured List and won’t return due to a knee injury. The Braves haven’t seen Trout in the lineup since the 2014 season.
Friday, August 16, 9:38 p.m. ET (Bally Sports Southeast)
Spencer Schwellenbach (12 GS, 70.2 IP, 26.8 K%, 4.2 BB%, 3.95 ERA, 3.33 FIP)
Spencer Schwellenbach will look to continue his good work when he takes the ball in Friday’s series opener. It is hard to imagine where the Braves might be if not for Schwellenbach, who has emerged as a reliable option despite throwing a career-high in innings. Since the beginning of July, Schwellenbach has a 2.54 ERA and a 2.77 FIP over his last six starts and has 45 strikeouts and just three walks over that span. He allowed two runs and struck out seven over six innings in his last outing against the Rockies at Coors Field.
Jose Soriano (21 G, 19 GS, 109.2 IP, 20.4 K%, 9.3 BB%, 3.36 ERA, 3.82 FIP)
Schwellenbach will be opposed by right-hander Jose Soriano, who will get the start in the opener for the Angels. Soriano has been a solid contributor for an Angels rotation that has struggled. He returned from a stretch on the Injured List on July 12 and has a 3.13 ERA and a 3.61 FIP over his last 37 1/3 innings. He allowed one run and struck out seven in six innings against the Nationals in his last start. Soriano made a relief appearance against the Braves last season where he allowed a hit and two walks in 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Saturday, August 17, 9:38 p.m. ET (Bally Sports Southeast)
Chris Sale (22 GS, 134.2 IP, 33.3 K%, 5.6 BB%, 2.61 ERA, 2.12 FIP)
Chris Sale will start on regular rest Saturday and will be looking to further strengthen his Cy Young candidacy. Sale is coming off one of his most dominant outings where he went head-to-head with Blake Snell and blanked the Giants for seven innings while recording a season-high 12 strikeouts. Sale has allowed two runs or fewer in 11 straight starts. Sale has been lights out in his career against the Angels, with a 1.06 ERA, 1.92 FIP, and 2.16 xFIP across nearly 60 innings, but hasn’t faced them since the 2019 season.
Griffin Canning (24 GS, 128.2 IP, 16.7 K%, 8.4 BB%, 5.11 ERA, 5.19 FIP)
Right-hander Griffin Canning will make his 25th start of the season for the Angels in Saturday’s game. Canning brings a sad 122 ERA- and 122 FIP- into Saturday’s start, but has helped eat innings for Ron Washington’s club. A part-timer in Anaheim’s rotation going back to 2019, he was mostly a league-average innings-eater until a mini-breakout last year suggested some room for growth, but he’s slammed back into worse-than-mediocrity this year. He allowed four runs and didn’t strike out a batter in seven innings in his last start against the Nationals, which was amusing because he set a season high in strikeouts with eight in the start before that. Saturday’s start will be Canning’s first career appearance against the Braves.
Sunday, August 18, 4:07 p.m. ET (Bally Sports Southeast)
Charlie Morton (22 GS, 120.2 IP, 23.5 K%, 8.6 BB%, 4.40 ERA, 4.70 FIP)
Atlanta will go with Charlie Morton in the series finale Sunday. Morton needed a good outing and delivered in San Francisco, allowing two runs while striking out eight over six innings against the Giants. Morton has largely alternated good and bad starts throughout the second half, and really, the season as a whole; the Braves need him to find some consistency for the stretch run. Morton has a 3.90 ERA but a horrid 5.09 FIP and a so-so 4.27 xFIP in 11 career starts against the Angels. He faced them once last season where he allowed three runs and struck out eight over six innings.
Jack Kochanowicz (3 GS, 14.2 IP, 10.9 K%, 6.3 BB%, 7.98 ERA, 6.11 FIP)
Young right-hander Jack Kochanowicz will make his fourth career start in the finale Sunday. Kochanowicz made the jump from Double-A and made his major league debut on July 11 against the Mariners. He allowed 11 earned runs seven innings combined across his first two starts. He pitched better in his last one, though, allowing just two runs over 7 2/3 innings against the Nationals. He’s allowed a homer in each of his three starts so far, and has yet to have a strikeout total exceeding his walk total by more than one in any of them.
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