Spencer Strider hopes to help Braves take a step forward after the All-Star Break
The Atlanta Braves are set to play game ninety-six this even against the Yankees after an excellent All-Star break. The Braves needed the break, especially considering that they have only won three of their last ten games. The Yankees have not been much better having only won five and lost their position atop the ALE standings.
The Braves are hurting, literally. Their greatest strength in this tough season has been their rotation and they have gotten to a point with injuries where they started Aaron Bummer and Davis Daniel in their last two games.
The projected starter for the Braves tonight is the one pitcher that gives them the best chance to win. Spencer Strider started the season off slowly while knocking the rust off after coming back from injury. In his last six starts he has pitched to a 2.95 ERA, 2.48 FIP, and accumulated fifty strikeouts to thirteen walks. One of his biggest flaws was giving up the HR, but he is only averaging 0.5 HRs per game in his last six starts.
Of the players on the Yankees active roster, only four of them have seen him before. Cody Bellinger only has two at-bats against him and has one single. Jazz Chisholm Jr. has seven at-bats with a .143 average, and Trent Grisham has six at-bats with a .167 average. The one player who had the upper hand is Paul Goldschmidt. He leads the team with eight at-bats and has been successful in this small sample. He has a .375 average with one HR against Strider.
The Yankees’ offense has been exceptional this year. So far they have scored the third most runs in MLB this season. Of course, when you have a healthy Aaron Judge, the floor is pretty high on how many runs will be scored. They have not slowed down offensively lately, even though they have played .500 ball in their past ten games. Since the start of July, the Yankees have maintained their rate of scoring the third most runs in MLB. Needless to say, Spencer Strider is going to have his hands full.
The downfall for the Yankees since the start of July has been that they are struggling to prevent runs. As a team they are allowing 6.32 runs per game. It is hard to win games that way. Their rotation has had a 5.52 ERA, and their bullpen has had an MLB worst 7.42 ERA. The Braves’ rotation has actually been worse in that span, but it was not because of Strider. The Braves’ bullpen has been decent with a 3.21 ERA.
The key in tonight’s game is Spencer Strider needs to prevent HRs and be able to get far enough in the game where the top bullpen arms can perform and the offense needs to take advantage of the struggling Yankees rotation and get to the bullpen as early as possible. It is a pretty prototypical way to win a game, but it is the clear game script to success tonight.
The first pitch is at 7:15 EDT.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Monday, July 18, 7:15 p.m. EDT
Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA
TV: FanDuel Sports South, FanDuel Sports Southeast, Gray TV
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan