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Coming into this series I was expecting low scoring, pitcher duels, and I was right. Both teams’ pitchers threw well, and in the end it was the little things that led each team to win one game. Two things to note before I dig into each game individually:

1. Ozzie Albies was back in the lineup for this series verses the Yankees (yay!)
2. Ronald Acuña Jr. did not play in this series to give him a couple of days off to recover from the minor injury he had on Sunday verses the Cubs when he slid head first into first base and into score.

Game One: Charlie Morton vs. Jameson Taillon, Braves lost 3-1

This game was certainly a pitchers’ duel. Both Morton and Taillon pitched very well. Each pitcher gave up one run and were very close in every way in their pitching performances. Morton went six innings, gave up the one run, and had six strike outs. The one run he surrendered was on a solo home run by Gio Urshela. The Braves’ one run was scored on a double by Ehire Adrianza in the top of the third, which allowed Guillermo Heredia to score. Ozzie Albies was 0-3 with a walk at the plate in his first game back after getting hit with a pitch on the knee against the Cubs on Friday.

Okay, for the seventh inning for the Braves the bullpen was very good. But when they got to the bottom of the eighth inning, things got choppy. Tyler Matzek is normally very good for the Braves in relief innings, but in this game, he didn’t have his stuff together. He had two hits and a walk and was yet to retire a batter, so Brian Snitker made the bullpen change and brought Nate Jones into the game. Jones ended up having a wild pitch and a walk, which led the final two Yankee runners to score. However, he inherited those runners so they were charged to Matzek. That was all the Yankees needed to claim the win in game one.

Game Two: Ian Anderson vs. Corey Kluber, Braves won 4-1

Let’s put it this way, this was Ian Anderson and Austin Riley’s game. Anderson pitched 6.2 scoreless innings, with only four hits, four walks, and four strikeouts. He had such better command of his pitch count, the strike zone, and getting balls on the ground in this game. Austin Riley was a huge component in the Braves’ scoring today. He was 2 for 2, with two walks. He scored three times! His biggest hit was his go-ahead, solo home run in the top of the ninth inning off of Brooks Kriske. He had a much better approach at the plate in this game, and it paid off big time. The Braves bullpen pitched well. They had one blemish, a RBI single off of Will Smith by Clint Frazier in the bottom of the ninth inning. After that, the Braves sealed the win off of the Yankees!

This was an eventful series between these two clubs to say the least. The Braves had already had quite a few injuries coming into this series with the Cubs, and they left with even more. Hopefully, none of the injuries that took place in this series are too severe!

Game One: Kyle Wright vs. Zach Davies, Braves won 5-2

Wright wasn’t originally supposed to start this game, but after Drew Smyly was placed on the Braves injured list that morning, he got called up and made the start. Kyle pitched well, giving up only two runs, three hits and two walks over 4.1 innings. He did not qualify for the win, because he didn’t pitch a full five innings. It’s almost kind of weird for me to say this, but Acuña did not have a home run in this game. He still had a hit and showed impressive hitting skills at the plate when he scored two Braves runners on a pitch that wasn’t even a strike. The bullpen pitched very well for the Braves in this game. It was good to see the pitchers come out of the bullpen, have a lead, and more importantly be able to keep it. In this game, there was a combined total of five players hit with pitches. Four were Cubs players and one was a Brave. The player that got hit for the Braves with a pitch was my man, Ozzie Albies and it didn’t look good. It was the top of the ninth inning. No one was on for the Braves, and the Cubs’ pitcher Justin Steele hit Ozzie on the knee. I don’t think it was intentional… but it was a little odd to me that he got hit with no one on base for the Braves. Ozzie was taken out of the game, and that says a lot about how much pain he was in. Ozzie, despite his size, is a very tough, young player who loves to play, and wants to play every single inning of every single game. That is just one of the reasons why he is my favorite player! Besides Ozzie getting hit with a pitch and exiting the game in the ninth, the Braves had another injury earlier in the game when Ender Inciarte exited the game after straining his hamstring running the bases in the top of the fourth inning. He was replaced in center by Braves bench player Guillermo Heredia. Despite the injuries, the Braves stayed strong and the bullpen came through to earn them a Braves win!

Game Two: Huascar Ynoa vs. Trevor Williams, Braves lost 13-4

It’s never fun, or easy, to write about a Braves loss. Especially a “blow-out” loss like they had in this game. This was the first start that Ynoa made where he had trouble. His stuff wasn’t all there and he had a hard time finishing batters off. In just four innings he gave up six runs and three home runs. That was very unlike him considering the previous starts he’d had. The Cubs bats were hot; that’s really my only “explanation” for what happened in this game. They didn’t score much in the game before, and they had a hard time scoring with runners in scoring position. The Cubs offense more than made up for that in this game. Acuña had two hits and scored two of the Braves four runs. Ozuna had a single. These are still good things to see from the Braves even when they lose — that they can still hit and are still scoring runs. This game was also a monumental one for Sean Kazmar Jr. who made his first Major League plate appearance in almost thirteen years. That is a long time! He came in to pinch hit for Ynoa, and even though he didn’t do anything except hit into a double play, it was just a proud moment for him and everything he has been through. I’m sure, given all of the Braves injuries, that he will have another plate-appearance sometime soon, and hopefully he’ll do more at the plate!

Game Three: Bryse Wilson vs. Kyle Hendricks, Braves won 13-4

What was that? Oh yeah, the Braves hit four first inning home runs. Four! And they didn’t stop there. Scoring six runs in the first inning, all off of homers, the Braves offense were giving the Cubs a little payback for what they did to them in the game before. Because the Braves have had so many injuries of late, they have guys playing that wouldn’t be playing. Guillermo Heredia had two home runs in this game. A two-run shot in the first and a grand slam in the sixth inning. He was on fire! He had a total of three hits, six RBI’s, and a walk. That is what you want to see from your non-everyday players, and he most definitely came through. Wilson pitched well. He went five innings, giving up three runs. However, only two of those runs were earned because Austin Riley had a throwing error in the bottom of the first which allowed Kris Bryant to score. Overall it was a great games for Braves and with the win, they took the series 2-1 over the Cubs.

One thing to note in this game that I didn’t mention earlier is that Acuña was taken out after two head first slides, one at first base and one coming into score, in the top of the fourth. After the slide you could tell that he was in pain and he kept pointing to the lower part of his stomach. Hopefully it isn’t too serious and he will be back in the lineup soon!!

Games like game three of the Braves vs. Cubs series are one of my absolute favorite types of games to watch. Where the Braves win, their offense is on fire, and the pitching is good too. You honestly can’t go wrong! The only thing that would have made this 13-4 win against the Cubs better, would’ve been if my man Ozzie was in the lineup and he got to contribute to the fun, too. Oh, well! He’ll do it next time the Braves see the Cubs on their upcoming home stand 🙂

We all know that Mike Soroka, Max Fried, Mike Foltynewicz, and our newest addition Cole Hamels (who we hope recovers from his shoulder injury) are in the Atlanta Braves’ starting rotation, but who’s going to pitch every fith day?

With Spring Training officially underway, I thought I’d share my thoughts/predictions of the Braves’ starting rotation. The two main contenders for the spot in the rotation are Sean Newcomb and Felix Hernández.

With Cole Hamels hurt, will that give Hernández more of a chance to pitch in the 2020 season? Well, if you remember, Felix Hernández was a non-roster invitee for the Braves heading into Spring Training, but he will try to prove himself worthy to pitch in the 2020 season. I believe that Hamels will be healthy by the time the season starts, but even if he isn’t I don’t think that Hernández will be the top choice to take his place.

How about another name to throw into the running? Kyle Wright. I think that the Braves would give Kyle Wright a chance to try to pitch in the starting rotation if Cole Hamels isn’t healthy by the time the season starts. Wright did start four games, but he he lost three of them and didn’t complete five innings in the other.

So we are still left with the 5th spot in the rotation: Newcomb or Hernández?

One of the main questions that the Braves rotation is facing is who will pitch every fifth day? While it very well could be Felix Hernández who was fantastic in his Cy Young award season, I just don’t thing that the 33, soon to be 34, year old six-time All-Star will have the same stuff he had at his prime. I predict it Sean Newcomb will be our pitcher every fifth day.

While Newcomb was used mostly as a relief pitcher in 2019, he did make four starts and had an overall ERA of 3.16 in 2019 as a starter. As a reliever, Newcomb produced a 25.6 strikeout rate and a 8.5 percent walk rate with a 3.04 ERA over 531/2 innings in 2019. In 2018, he was used as a starter and he produced a 3.90 ERA and a 12-9 recored in 30 games started, and he had 160 strike outs.

With just 37 days till the start of the regular season and Spring Training games staring this Saturday, I believe the Braves will come to a decision soon on the finalization of the rotation. My 2020 starting rotation predictions:

Mike Soroka , Max Fried, Cole Hamels, Sean Newcomb, and finally Mike Foltynewicz.