<img alt="Chicago Cubs v Washington Nationals" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0Ugvxvpxyq9i0ZbfLMVh09_fIXg=/0x0:6000x4000/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73573673/2170123538.0.jpg">
Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images
Atlanta ends their homestand with a makeup game against the Reds before jetting off to D.C. for two days. What a weird three-game “series.” The Atlanta Braves will have a very unorthodox run of three games coming up. The Braves will be playing four games against the Reds this month but one of those games will happen later on today, as the Reds will be stopping into town for a day to face the Braves in a make-up game from all the way back in July. As much as we’re all grateful for Cincinnati being the ones to put an end to that long winning streak that the Mets were on, it’s time to thank them sending them packing on their merry way in order to end this homestand on a high note.
Once that game is done, there’s no rest for the weary as the Braves will be traveling up to the nation’s capital to face off with the Washington Nationals. Atlanta has already lost the season series against the Nationals this season but they did pick up a series win against the Nationals at home back in late-August. It was a typical 2024 Braves series where they won two games thanks to strong pitching and taking advantage of the other team’s shortcomings before one rough pitching outing kept them from pulling off the sweep.
In the 12 games since that series took place, the Nationals have gone 5-7. Dylan Crews debuted immediately after the Nationals got done facing the Braves and Washington proceeded to take a home series against the Yankees. From that point forward, the Nats have either lost or split every series that they’ve played in. They weren’t exactly dealing with Murderer’s Row either, as they got swept by the Cubs, split a two-game series with the Marlins and then split another four-game series with the Pirates. While the Nationals aren’t exactly tearing up the world at the moment, I think we all know by now that this team shouldn’t be trifled with and the Braves will likely be in for a fight if they want to leave D.C. in good shape.
Monday, September 9, 6:40 pm E.T. vs. Reds, Bally Sports South
RHP Charlie Morton (26 GS, 142.1 IP, 101 ERA-, 113 FIP-, 24.5 K%, 9.1 BB%)
Charlie Morton will be heading into this start against the Reds in the midst of what’s been his steadiest run of starts for a long, long time this season. Ever since his start on August 13 against the Giants, Morton has an ERA- of 77 and a FIP- of 90 as he’s thrown 27.2 innings and picked up 36 strikeouts over five starts. While he did run into a bit of trouble against the Phillies on the way to a bummer of a 5-4 loss, the Braves have also won the other four games that he’s started in that span. The Braves have needed Morton to step up here in the latter stages of the season and it appears that he’s reaching into his bag of veteran tricks in order to do just that.
Not too many Reds batters have a ton of experience against Morton — Jake Fraley has the most at-bats against Morton with a grand total of 6 and Fraley has a .143 OPS against him. Everybody else has either three or four ABs against him, which is to say that the sample size isn’t exactly going to be predicative of what’s going to happen in this one. I will say that the Reds since August have been a bit pedestrian at the plate, as they’re collectively hitting .242/.314/.406 with a team wOBA of .314 and a team wRC+ of 95 since August 1. Maybe Morton will be able to extend their misery with a solid performance on Monday evening.
RHP Nick Martinez (12 GS, 115.1 IP, 84 ERA-, 83 FIP-, 19.5 K%, 3.6 BB%)
It’s been a tale of two roles for Nick Martinez here in 2024. As a reliever, Martinez has been very tough to deal with and you can tell from his above-average ERA- and FIP- that he’s been having a very solid season in that role. With that being said, the Reds have also been giving him starts and those appearances haven’t been going as well. He’s given up at least three runs in four of his last five starts — including six runs over 4.1 innings against the Blue Jays back on August 21 and four runs in each of his past two starts against the Brewers and Astros, respectively.
Still, just because he’s been having a tough time as a starter doesn’t mean that this will be a walk in the park for Atlanta. He did throw seven shutout innings against the Brewers back on August 10 and that was preceded by five shutout innings against the Marlins on August 5. He’s got a deep and versatile arsenal of pitches and he’s very effective at getting pitchers to chase at his stuff without getting hit hard and also without walking a ton of batters, either. With the way that Atlanta’s lineup is currently prone to having frequent power outages, it really wouldn’t be shocking if Martinez pulled out a strong performance on Monday.
Tuesday, September 10, 6:45 pm E.T. at Nationals, Bally Sports South
RHP Reynaldo López (23 GS, 127.2 IP, 49 ERA-, 77 FIP-, 26.4 K%, 8.1 B%)
Reynaldo López has been one of the most reliable starters in Atlanta’s strong rotation this season. The Nationals in particular have seen this first hand, as they haven’t been particularly successful against him so far this season. López went six innings and struck out seven batters while only giving up two runs in his visit to Nationals Park earlier this season. He then followed that performance up in the rematch in Cobb County by going another six innings, striking out another seven batters and giving up one run. I’d imagine that it may be difficult for López to fool this crew for a third time but with the way this season has gone for him, I wouldn’t put it past him to pull it off.
LHP MacKenzie Gore (28 GS, 143.2 IP, 105 ERA-, 87 FIP-, 24.2 K%, 8.7 BB%)
Besides, surely if MacKenzie Gore can fool the Braves for three times this season then Reynaldo López can get it done for a third time, right? To be fair, Gore has been having a decent season, himself and as I mentioned in the previous sentence, he’s been very difficult for Atlanta to deal with this season. He had a stretch in late-May/early-June where he pitched 10.1 innings and struck out 17 Braves batters while only giving up two earned runs (four total, though) and then he put it all together at Truist Park on August 23 when he went six innings and only gave up one run against the Braves. He did only end up with four strikeouts in this appearance, so maybe that counts as progress in your eyes?
Anyways, Gore has fared quite well in the two starts shutting down the Braves. He’s gone six innings in each of them and he gave up two runs and struck out six against the Yankees before giving up one run and striking out nine against the Marlins. He’s on a bit of a roll at the moment and while it started against the Braves, hopefully they’ll be the ones who are able to stop him in his tracks.
Wednesday, September 11, 6:45 pm E.T. at Nationals, Bally Sports South
LHP Max Fried (25 GS, 147.2 IP, 80 ERA-, 88 FIP-, 22.6 K%, 8.4 BB %)
Finally, we all got a glimpse of Maximum Fried for the first time in a good, long while after his performance against the Blue Jays in his last time out. That was when he went out and threw seven innings while only giving up one unearned run, five hits, a walk and striking out eight batters as well. It’s the type of performance that the Braves are going to need from him from here out — or at least something close to it. Either way, it would be perfect for Fried to end his season on a high note here in the home stretch.
He’ll be heading into this start against the Nationals with a very strong start against Washington already under his belt. Back on May 28, Fried pitched eight strong shutout innings. While he gave up seven hits, the Nats were unable to get anything going against Fried as he racked up six strikeouts while he was out there. Needless to say, I think every single Braves fan would be up for a repeat of that performance here in September.
RHP Jake Irvin (29 GS, 166 IP, 104 ERA-, 106 FIP-, 20.5 K%, 6.3 BB%)
Here’s a five-word statement that I never thought I’d type out: “Oh no, it’s Jake Irvin.” Irvin has pitched 17.1 innings against the Braves this season and has given up a grand total of two runs against the Braves so far. Irvin’s been having himself a pretty pedestrian and average season so far but when it comes to Atlanta, he’s been extremely tough to deal with and I’d imagine that Atlanta’s probably not thrilled to see him at this point in the season. With that being said, he’s certainly started to slow down as of late.
That 5.1 IP, 2 ER start against Atlanta back on August 24 was actually the best start he’s had over his past four starts and it was the best by far, at that. He gave up four runs over six innings against the Phillies on August 18, then he didn’t even make it through five innings against the Cubs on August 30 while giving up seven runs in the process. He followed that up in his most recent start against the Pirates where he surrendered six earned runs over five innings. Jake Irvin is not a machine, he’s a man and surely the Braves can figure out a way to have a big night against him this Wednesday.
<img alt="Chicago Cubs v Washington Nationals" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0Ugvxvpxyq9i0ZbfLMVh09_fIXg=/0x0:6000x4000/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73573673/2170123538.0.jpg">
Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images
Atlanta ends their homestand with a makeup game against the Reds before jetting off to D.C. for two days. What a weird three-game “series.” The Atlanta Braves will have a very unorthodox run of three games coming up. The Braves will be playing four games against the Reds this month but one of those games will happen later on today, as the Reds will be stopping into town for a day to face the Braves in a make-up game from all the way back in July. As much as we’re all grateful for Cincinnati being the ones to put an end to that long winning streak that the Mets were on, it’s time to thank them sending them packing on their merry way in order to end this homestand on a high note.
Once that game is done, there’s no rest for the weary as the Braves will be traveling up to the nation’s capital to face off with the Washington Nationals. Atlanta has already lost the season series against the Nationals this season but they did pick up a series win against the Nationals at home back in late-August. It was a typical 2024 Braves series where they won two games thanks to strong pitching and taking advantage of the other team’s shortcomings before one rough pitching outing kept them from pulling off the sweep.
In the 12 games since that series took place, the Nationals have gone 5-7. Dylan Crews debuted immediately after the Nationals got done facing the Braves and Washington proceeded to take a home series against the Yankees. From that point forward, the Nats have either lost or split every series that they’ve played in. They weren’t exactly dealing with Murderer’s Row either, as they got swept by the Cubs, split a two-game series with the Marlins and then split another four-game series with the Pirates. While the Nationals aren’t exactly tearing up the world at the moment, I think we all know by now that this team shouldn’t be trifled with and the Braves will likely be in for a fight if they want to leave D.C. in good shape.
Monday, September 9, 6:40 pm E.T. vs. Reds, Bally Sports South
RHP Charlie Morton (26 GS, 142.1 IP, 101 ERA-, 113 FIP-, 24.5 K%, 9.1 BB%)
Charlie Morton will be heading into this start against the Reds in the midst of what’s been his steadiest run of starts for a long, long time this season. Ever since his start on August 13 against the Giants, Morton has an ERA- of 77 and a FIP- of 90 as he’s thrown 27.2 innings and picked up 36 strikeouts over five starts. While he did run into a bit of trouble against the Phillies on the way to a bummer of a 5-4 loss, the Braves have also won the other four games that he’s started in that span. The Braves have needed Morton to step up here in the latter stages of the season and it appears that he’s reaching into his bag of veteran tricks in order to do just that.
Not too many Reds batters have a ton of experience against Morton — Jake Fraley has the most at-bats against Morton with a grand total of 6 and Fraley has a .143 OPS against him. Everybody else has either three or four ABs against him, which is to say that the sample size isn’t exactly going to be predicative of what’s going to happen in this one. I will say that the Reds since August have been a bit pedestrian at the plate, as they’re collectively hitting .242/.314/.406 with a team wOBA of .314 and a team wRC+ of 95 since August 1. Maybe Morton will be able to extend their misery with a solid performance on Monday evening.
RHP Nick Martinez (12 GS, 115.1 IP, 84 ERA-, 83 FIP-, 19.5 K%, 3.6 BB%)
It’s been a tale of two roles for Nick Martinez here in 2024. As a reliever, Martinez has been very tough to deal with and you can tell from his above-average ERA- and FIP- that he’s been having a very solid season in that role. With that being said, the Reds have also been giving him starts and those appearances haven’t been going as well. He’s given up at least three runs in four of his last five starts — including six runs over 4.1 innings against the Blue Jays back on August 21 and four runs in each of his past two starts against the Brewers and Astros, respectively.
Still, just because he’s been having a tough time as a starter doesn’t mean that this will be a walk in the park for Atlanta. He did throw seven shutout innings against the Brewers back on August 10 and that was preceded by five shutout innings against the Marlins on August 5. He’s got a deep and versatile arsenal of pitches and he’s very effective at getting pitchers to chase at his stuff without getting hit hard and also without walking a ton of batters, either. With the way that Atlanta’s lineup is currently prone to having frequent power outages, it really wouldn’t be shocking if Martinez pulled out a strong performance on Monday.
Tuesday, September 10, 6:45 pm E.T. at Nationals, Bally Sports South
RHP Reynaldo López (23 GS, 127.2 IP, 49 ERA-, 77 FIP-, 26.4 K%, 8.1 B%)
Reynaldo López has been one of the most reliable starters in Atlanta’s strong rotation this season. The Nationals in particular have seen this first hand, as they haven’t been particularly successful against him so far this season. López went six innings and struck out seven batters while only giving up two runs in his visit to Nationals Park earlier this season. He then followed that performance up in the rematch in Cobb County by going another six innings, striking out another seven batters and giving up one run. I’d imagine that it may be difficult for López to fool this crew for a third time but with the way this season has gone for him, I wouldn’t put it past him to pull it off.
LHP MacKenzie Gore (28 GS, 143.2 IP, 105 ERA-, 87 FIP-, 24.2 K%, 8.7 BB%)
Besides, surely if MacKenzie Gore can fool the Braves for three times this season then Reynaldo López can get it done for a third time, right? To be fair, Gore has been having a decent season, himself and as I mentioned in the previous sentence, he’s been very difficult for Atlanta to deal with this season. He had a stretch in late-May/early-June where he pitched 10.1 innings and struck out 17 Braves batters while only giving up two earned runs (four total, though) and then he put it all together at Truist Park on August 23 when he went six innings and only gave up one run against the Braves. He did only end up with four strikeouts in this appearance, so maybe that counts as progress in your eyes?
Anyways, Gore has fared quite well in the two starts shutting down the Braves. He’s gone six innings in each of them and he gave up two runs and struck out six against the Yankees before giving up one run and striking out nine against the Marlins. He’s on a bit of a roll at the moment and while it started against the Braves, hopefully they’ll be the ones who are able to stop him in his tracks.
Wednesday, September 11, 6:45 pm E.T. at Nationals, Bally Sports South
LHP Max Fried (25 GS, 147.2 IP, 80 ERA-, 88 FIP-, 22.6 K%, 8.4 BB %)
Finally, we all got a glimpse of Maximum Fried for the first time in a good, long while after his performance against the Blue Jays in his last time out. That was when he went out and threw seven innings while only giving up one unearned run, five hits, a walk and striking out eight batters as well. It’s the type of performance that the Braves are going to need from him from here out — or at least something close to it. Either way, it would be perfect for Fried to end his season on a high note here in the home stretch.
He’ll be heading into this start against the Nationals with a very strong start against Washington already under his belt. Back on May 28, Fried pitched eight strong shutout innings. While he gave up seven hits, the Nats were unable to get anything going against Fried as he racked up six strikeouts while he was out there. Needless to say, I think every single Braves fan would be up for a repeat of that performance here in September.
RHP Jake Irvin (29 GS, 166 IP, 104 ERA-, 106 FIP-, 20.5 K%, 6.3 BB%)
Here’s a five-word statement that I never thought I’d type out: “Oh no, it’s Jake Irvin.” Irvin has pitched 17.1 innings against the Braves this season and has given up a grand total of two runs against the Braves so far. Irvin’s been having himself a pretty pedestrian and average season so far but when it comes to Atlanta, he’s been extremely tough to deal with and I’d imagine that Atlanta’s probably not thrilled to see him at this point in the season. With that being said, he’s certainly started to slow down as of late.
That 5.1 IP, 2 ER start against Atlanta back on August 24 was actually the best start he’s had over his past four starts and it was the best by far, at that. He gave up four runs over six innings against the Phillies on August 18, then he didn’t even make it through five innings against the Cubs on August 30 while giving up seven runs in the process. He followed that up in his most recent start against the Pirates where he surrendered six earned runs over five innings. Jake Irvin is not a machine, he’s a man and surely the Braves can figure out a way to have a big night against him this Wednesday.
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