Will tonight be the first win for the rookie?
The Braves are coming off a sweep at the hands of the Orioles and now travel across the country to play the Sacramento aka Oakland A’s for the next three games. It’ll be a matchup of two of the six worst clubs in baseball, record-wise.
The A’s started the year 20-16 and have been a miserable 17-39 since then. They’ll hand the ball to lefty Jeffrey Springs on Tuesday night, who comes in with a 6-6 record and 4.07 ERA, although some regression is likely coming. Springs owns a 4.77 FIP and 4.72 xFIP with 79 strikeouts and 37 walks over 97 innings. He’s pitched well over the last month with a 2.97 ERA over six games.
The Braves will hand the ball to Didier Fuentes again out of sheer necessity. The 20-year-old rookie is clearly not ready for this level, but losing four opening day starters in a matter of three months can prompt uncertain times. The key for Fuentes will be working deeper into the game against Sacramento’s lineup; Didier hasn’t made it through the fourth inning in either of his last two starts.
First pitch is a late one at 10:05 p.m. ET. You can watch, stream and listen to the game in all the usual places.