The 2024 season begins for the Atlanta Braves the way the 2023 season ended: with a series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Here is a look at the pitching matchups for the three-game set.
The Atlanta Braves will begin the 2024 regular season where their 2023 postseason run ended. They’ll make the trip to Philadelphia Thursday where they will begin a three-game series against the Phillies. Atlanta finished the 2023 season 14 games ahead of Philadelphia in the standings and set numerous offensive records, but were once again dispatched in four games by the Phillies in the Division Series.
Atlanta spent the offseason shoring up a roster than won 104 games in 2023. They added Chris Sale and Reynaldo López to the rotation and will feature a platoon in left field with Jarred Kelenic and Adam Duvall. The Phillies spent the offseason keeping their core together by inking Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler to extensions that will keep them in the fold for the foreseeable future. Philadelphia also added veteran Whit Merrifield, who is expected to fill a utility role. Taijuan Walker is expected to begin the season on the Injured List with a shoulder issue, leaving Cristopher Sanchez and Spencer Turnbull to round out their starting rotation.
The Braves are 19-13 against the Phillies during the regular season over the past two seasons and are 11-7 at Citizens Bank Park. However, Atlanta has lost the last two Division Series matchups and are 0-4 in Philadelphia during the postseason in that span.
The series was originally slated to begin Thursday, but was postponed to Friday’s off day due to forecasted rain for the Philadelphia area.
Friday, March 29, 3:05 p.m. ET (Bally Sports South)
Spencer Strider (2023: 32 GS, 186.2 IP, 36.8 K%, 7.6 BB%, 3.86 ERA, 2.85 FIP)
Spencer Strider will be making his first career Opening Day start for the Braves in Thursday’s game. Strider set a new franchise record and led the majors in strikeouts in 2023. He turned in an impressive showing during the spring, adding a new curveball to his pitch arsenal. Strider is 8-0 with a 1.90 ERA, 1.94 FIP, and 2.26 xFIP to go along with 72 strikeouts in 47 1/3 innings in his career against the Phillies during the regular season. He allowed four earned runs combined and struck out 15 in 12 2/3 innings against Philadelphia in the Division Series last postseason, but was sunk anyway due to a lack of offensive support.
Zack Wheeler (2023: 32 GS, 192.0 IP, 26.9 K%, 5.0 BB%, 3.61 ERA, 3.15 FIP)
Zack Wheeler will get the nod for the Phillies on Opening Day on the heels of having signed a three-year extension with the club worth a whopping $126 million. Wheeler has been a workhorse since signing with Philadelphia prior to the 2020 season, and was the majors’ most productive pitcher last season, as he has been in aggregate over the last five years. He’s amassed 629 1/3 innings while producing a 3.06 ERA and a 2.90 FIP in 101 starts over the last four seasons. Having spent his entire career in the NL East, Wheeler is no stranger when it comes to facing the Braves. In 27 career starts against Atlanta, Wheeler has a 3.18 ERA, 3.54 FIP, and 3.66 xFIP in 170 innings, nearly a season’s worth of pitching.
Saturday, March 30, 4:05 p.m. ET (Bally Sports South, FS1)
Max Fried (2023: 14 GS, 77.2 IP, 25.7 K%, 5.8 BB%, 2.55 ERA, 3.14 FIP)
Max Fried will get the start in the second game of the series and will be entering his final season before free agency. Fried battled through an injury-plagued campaign in 2023 that included three different trips to the shelf, the most serious of which was for a forearm strain that cost him three months of action. A blister issue put him back on the Injured List at the end of the season, but he returned to start Game 2 of the Division Series against the Phillies where he allowed three earned runs in four innings. Fried has a 3.62 ERA, 4.32 FIP, and 3.87 xFIP in 79 2/3 innings across 13 career starts and six relief appearances against Philadelphia, though he does have a better 3.49 xFIP in 12 career games at Citizens Bank Park.
Aaron Nola (2023: 32 GS, 193.2 IP, 25.5 K%, 5.7 BB%, 4.46 ERA, 4.03 FIP)
Aaron Nola entered free agency and the start of the offseason and had plenty of suitors, including, if certain reporting is to be believed, the Atlanta Braves. However, he elected to return to Philadelphia on a seven-year deal that will pay him $172 million. Like his teammate, Wheeler, Nola has been a workhorse at the top of the Phillies rotation, amassing at least 180 2/3 innings in each of the past three seasons. Nola has made 33 starts in his career against Atlanta where he has a 3.40 ERA, 3.88 FIP, and 3.74 xFIP in 206 2/3 innings. He allowed seven runs combined to the Braves in three starts in 2023 and then allowed two runs and struck out nine over 5 2/3 innings in Game 3 of the Division Series.
Sunday, March 31, 1:35 p.m. ET (Bally Sports South, MLB Network)
Chris Sale (2023: 20 GS, 102.2 IP, 29.4 K%, 6.8 BB%, 4.30 ERA, 3.80 FIP)
Chris Sale will make his regular season debut for the Braves in Sunday’s series finale. Sale was acquired during the offseason in a trade with Boston in hopes that he can help solidify Atlanta’s rotation. Having battled injuries for the past several years, Sale had a normal offseason and looked the part during the spring, allowing five runs to go along with 23 strikeouts in 14 2/3 innings (1.83 FIP, 3.46 xFIP). Sale has only faced the Phillies three times in his career and allowed three runs and struck out 10 over six innings in a start against them last season.
Ranger Suarez (2023: 22 GS, 125.0 IP, 22.0 K%, 8.9 BB%, 4.18 ERA, 3.90 FIP)
Left-hander Ranger Suárez will start opposite of Sale in Sunday’s series finale. Suarez converted to a starter at the end of the 2021 season and has emerged as a key piece of the Philadelphia rotation over the past two seasons. He made 22 starts a year ago while posting a 4.18 ERA and a 3.90 FIP. Suarez has pitched well against Atlanta in his career, posting a 3.00 ERA, 4.03 FIP, and 3.73 xFIP in 16 career appearances (seven starts). He made just one regular season start against the Braves last season and allowed one run over six innings. Suarez was even better in the Division Series, where he allowed one run over 8 2/3 innings across starts in Game 1 and Game 4.