The Braves are on their longest losing streak since 2017. They are looking to get back into the win column this afternoon against Cole Irvin and the Orioles.
The Atlanta Braves are set to face the Baltimore Orioles for the final game of a three-game set with hopes to not get swept. The Braves’ offense is obliviously struggling with their wRC+ ranking twenty-seventh in MLB since the start of May. In the two games against Baltimore they have scored a combined two runs.
The one bright spot in their season is that their rotation has been fifth in MLB in fWAR and the third best xFIP in the same timeframe. The frustrating part is the thought of how many games the Braves would have won up to this point had that had even a league average offense.
Reynaldo López has been a key contributor to the Braves’ rotation being a top five rotation this year. So far this year in 63.1 IP, he has a 1.85 ERA, 3.00 FIP, 1.089 WHIP, and 2.95 SO/W ratio. His ERA is the second best among all MLB SPs with at least 60.0 IP. He has been lucky in the strand rate arena with a 85.2 percent, so over time his ERA will likely rise a bit, but he has still been far better than expected.
For the Orioles, Cole Irvin will be taking the mound. He has a solid ERA of 2.87 on the year in 62.2 IP, and he does not walk many hitters with 1.72 per nine innings. However, he has had some fortune thus far with his expected ERA (xERA) being much higher at 4.55.
López has faced many of the Orioles before. Ryan O’Hearn and James McCann have faced him the most at seventeen and sixteen at-bats respectively. No other player has more than five at bats against him. O’Hearn will be one that López may be worried about as he has a .353 average, OPS of 1.182 OPS and two HRs against him in his career. McCann, who backs up Rutschman, also has had success with a .438 average and 1.063 OPS.
As for the Braves, no one has seen Irvin more than Kelenic and Austin Riley who have had nine at-bats apiece. Kelenic has had success so far. He has a .444 average with a 1.027 OPS. Riley has not had as much fortune with a .222 average and .697 OPS.
It appears that overall, this may be a good matchup for the Braves. If you include d’Arnaud, who only has one at-bat against Irvin, six Braves have an OPS over 1.000 against him. These six are Albies with a 1.714 OPS in six at-bats, Duvall with a 1.250 in four at-bats, the aforementioned Kelenic, Olson with a 1.500 in five at-bats, Ozuna with a 1.166 in six at-bats, and d’Arnaud with a 2.000 in one at-bats.
Of course, these are small sample sizes, and as we have seen this year, it is hard to look at past performances by this offense as any indicator of what is to come.
In the last thirty days, the Braves are 11-17, and their five game losing streak is their first since they lost six straight on September 30th, 2017. Hopefully, with López on the mound and the offense having a strong history against Irvin., the Braves will be back in the win column.
First pitch is at 1:05 ET.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Thursday, June 13, 1:05 p.m. ET
Location: Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD.
TV: Bally Sports South
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan