Hunter Greene has been one of the best pitchers in MLB this season and the Braves’ bats have been cold
The Atlanta Braves are looking to become a .500 team for the first time this season as they go for the potential sweep of the Cincinnati Reds this evening at Truist Park.
The Braves will have a tough test as they will face Hunter Greene who has become a top tier starting pitcher. Last season he was eighth in Cy Young voting and has been even better this season.
Greene is the league leader in WHIP, and a lot of that has to do with his elite control combined with his otherworldly strikeout ability. Greene is in the top 1.0 percent of qualified pitchers with an average speed of 99.2 MPH on his fastball and is striking out 33.3 percent of hitters he faces. He also is only walking 4.8 percent of hitters. This has resulted in an insane 6.88 strikeout to walk ratio.
Combine with the fact that the Braves’ bats have cooled off, and it could be a tough task to win. In the past week, the Braves have the third worst average in MLB, third worst OBP, eighth worst slugging, fifth worst wRC+, and second fewest runs scored. To be fair, they have faced some tough pitching staffs in that span, but it is still not promising.
There is some silver lining to the Braves facing Greene. No regular starter has faced him more than nine times, but they have had some success. Albies has a .933 OPS in three ABs against Greene, Murphy has a 1.000 OPS in four ABs, Olson has a .958 OPS in eight ABs, and Riley has a .889 OPS in nine ABs.
Grant Holmes will be taking the mound for the Braves after having a solid start against a potent Dodgers lineup his last outing. In 6.0 innings he had a career high nine strikeouts while allowing only two earned runs on four hits and two walks. He has had an up and down season so far with a 1.206 WHIP, and 4.24 ERA. His largest weakness is that he has walked 13.6 percent of batters faced, which is in the bottom 10.0 percent of qualified pitchers.
No Reds player has seen Holmes more than four ABs, but have had success as a whole. De La Cruz has a 1.250 OPS in four ABs. Fraley, Steer, and Stephenson all have a 1.167 OPS against Holmes.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Wednesday, May 7, 7:15 p.m. EDT
Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA
TV: FanDuel Sports South, Southeast
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan