The Atlanta Braves did not exactly have the best series against the Phillies after losing two more one-run games to add to their MLB leading total, and also giving up nineteen runs in a single game. However, they did have some fun yesterday with late game heroics from Drake Baldwin and another great start from splitter king himself, Hurston Waldrep.
Hopefully the win yesterday can spark some momentum as the Braves will be taking on the Chicago Cubs. In the first half of the season the Cubs looked like they may be the team to beat in the NLC, but the Brewers have since taken over that role handedly. That does not mean the Cubs are a bad team though. They still hold the second best run differential in the National League. They are 5-5 in their last ten games are are fighting to take some games back from the Brewers’ lead, so don’t expect them to take this series lightly.
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Spencer Strider is scheduled to take the mound for the Braves. After having three of his worst starts of his career in in a row in which he gave up five, eight, and seven runs respectively, he rebounded with a solid start against the Marlins in which he went 7.0 innings with only one earned run. He only had three strikeouts, so he will likely need to get those numbers up if he wants to see success today, but there is reason for hope that he may be able to get the job done.
He has not faced the Cubs this season, and since this has been a down year for him due to variables like coming back from injury, it is hard to make a true educated guess on how he will do against the specific hitters that are currently on the Cubs. For his career, only five hitters on the Cubs have ever faced Strider in the regular season. Carson Kelly, Willi Castro, and Michael Busch are all hitless in their two at-bats. Kyle Tucker has one hit in three at-bats, and Josh Turner has a .167 average in his six at-bats.
Colin Rea is who will be starting for the Cubs. Rea has had an interesting career. He debuted in 2015, but in 2017 he was out the entire year due to injury and played 2022 in Japan. Rea is also remember from a super rare situation back in 2016 where he was traded from the Padres to the Marlins, but then after one start it was clear that he was injured before the trade, so the Marlins were able to send him back to the Padres.
Rea has never been an above average pitcher in his career in terms of ERA. In fact, he has never had a season in which hi ERA is better than league average. However, he is having one of his better career seasons this year. He has pitched 132.0 innings of 4.23 ERA ball. However, his 4.68 FIP, 1.318 WHIP, and 4.96 xERA show that he has been on the lucky side.
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Jake Fraley leads the Braves in appearances against Rea with twelve at-bats and has done well with a .500 average and 1.571 OPS and two HRS, so it will be interesting to see if he gets the start today. Matt Olson has also done well in his seven at-bats with a .429 average and 1.572 OPS to include one HR. Marcell Ozuna has eight at-bats, but only has a .125 average, so it will be interesting to see if he gets the start as well. No other player has more than four at-bats against Rea.
The Braves’ season is pretty much shot at this point, but maybe they can play spoiler for some teams. The Cubs are a prime candidate.
First pitch is at 4:05 EDT
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Sunday, September 1st, 4:05 p.m. EDT
Location: Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
TV: FanDuel Sports Network South, FanDuel Sports Network Southeast
Streaming: MLB.com
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan
