The Atlanta Braves will return to Truist Park Monday where they will begin a seven-game homestand with a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs. The Braves missed out on a chance to sweep the New York Mets Sunday in disappointing fashion as Brandon Nimmo walked off A.J. Minter in the ninth in a 4-3 loss.
The Braves were still able to come away with a series win and have won four of their last five since a 1-5 West Coast trip. The worst thing about Sunday’s loss was that the Braves missed out on a chance to gain ground on the Phillies, who lost to the Marlins earlier in the afternoon. Atlanta will enter play Monday with a 24-13 record and are two games back of Philadelphia in the NL East standings.
Atlanta’s starting rotation continued to cook on the brief road trip. Charlie Morton, Max Fried and Bryce Elder combined to allow just three runs in 19 1/3 innings against the Mets. The offense briefly broke out Friday when Ronald Acuña Jr, Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson all homered. Michael Harris snapped an 0-for-29 streak with a three-hit game Saturday. Marcell Ozuna gave Atlanta the lead twice with run-scoring singles Sunday, but they failed to take advantage of several scoring opportunities, which came back to bite them in the end.
Austin Riley left Sunday’s game in the fourth inning due to what was deemed tightness in his left side. Riley could be seen clutching his side after a strikeout in the third inning. After Sunday’s game, he said that he felt some tightness during batting practice, but didn’t inform the team. The Braves said he was removed as a precaution and his status for Monday’s game is unclear at this time.
The Cubs began their road trip by taking two of three in Pittsburgh. They are 24-17 for the season and are a half game behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the NL Central lead. Chicago ranks 11th in the majors in runs scored and are 10th in wRC+. However, the position players are 14th in fWAR, due to some uncharacteristically poor defense in the early going. Their pitching staff ranks 13th in fWAR, as a top-10 rotation has been dragged down by poor relief pitching so far.
The Cubs will be without shortstop Dansby Swanson who is on the injured list with a sprained knee. They recently got Cody Bellinger back from a rib injury and reinstated Seiya Suzuki from the Injured List earlier this week. Bellinger has seven home runs and a 130 wRC+ in 26 games. Suzuki had been out since April 14 due to an oblique injury and has three homers and a 136 wRC+ in just 79 plate appearances. Mike Tauchman has been really good so far after a pretty mediocre 2023; the rotation has gotten good performances from a bunch of guys and especially Shota Imanaga. The Braves and Cubs will wrap up the season series at Wrigley Field on May 21-23.
Monday, May 13, 7:20 p.m. ET (Bally Sports South)
Shota Imanaga (7 GS, 41.2 IP, 26.9 K%, 3.1 BB%, 1.08 ERA, 2.39 FIP)
The Braves will get their first look at Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga in Monday’s series opener. Imanaga is off to a terrific start in his first season after coming over from Japan. Imanaga isn’t overpowering but opposing hitters have had a difficult time squaring him up. While his ERA and FIP are well below his xFIP, his xFIP- is still 82, so he’s been really good. He hasn’t allowed more than two runs in any start and has only done that twice over his first seven outings. He had a couple of not-so-great K/BB ratios early in the season, and has allowed a homer in three of his last four starts, but there’s basically little to nitpick here. He allowed two runs and struck out eight in seven innings in his last start against the Padres.
Even though he’s largely just fastball-split, the Braves will likely have their hands full, as Imanaga works them almost perfectly — his fastball is only 92 mph but has great “rise” for its speed, while the split does what you figure it would: drop to the knees and below.
Reynaldo Lopez (6 GS, 35.1 IP, 25.5 K%, 9.9 BB%, 1.53 ERA, 3.05 FIP)
Reynaldo López will get the start in Monday’s opener for the Braves and will be looking to continue his good start to the season. López was dominant early in his last start against Boston before losing his command in the sixth. He issued a season-high four walks while allowing two runs in 5 1/3 innings, although only one of the runs was earned. Lopez has allowed one run or less in five of his six starts this season.
Tuesday, May 14, 7:20 p.m. ET (Bally Sports South)
Jameson Taillon (4 GS, 24.0 IP, 17.0 K%, 5.3 BB%, 1.13 ERA ,3.53 FIP)
Right-hander Jameson Taillon will start for Chicago on Tuesday. Taillon was originally scheduled to start this past Friday in Pittsburgh but was scratched due to a stiff back. He didn’t make his season debut until April 19 due to a back issue that he suffered during the spring. When he has been healthy enough to pitch, Taillon has had excellent results posting a 1.13 ERA (28 ERA-) and a 3.53 FIP (90 FIP-) in 24 innings... though he does have a far less impressive 108 xFIP-. He allowed just two hits and struck out seven in six innings in his last start against the Brewers, by far his best outing of the season so far. Taillon has faced the Braves three times in his career allowing five runs in 18 innings, with an FIP/xFIP in the mid-4.00s. He faced them once last season and allowed two runs over six to go along with three strikeouts.
Chris Sale (7 GS, 42.2 IP, 30.6 K%, 4.7 BB%, 2.95 ERA, 2.64 FIP)
Lefty Chris Sale will make his eighth start of the season in Tuesday’s game. Sale has been on a roll of late, allowing just two earned runs over his last 18 innings across three starts. He turned in one of his best performances of the season last time out where he allowed six hits and struck out a season-high 10 over six innings against Boston. After some early-season numbers were inflated by Sale giving up leadoff homers, he’s been absolutely dominant lately.
Wednesday, May 15, 7:20 p.m. ET (Bally Sports South)
TBD
The Cubs haven’t announced their starter for Wednesday’s series finale. The spot is Javier Assad’s, who would be on normal rest and appears to be the most likely candidate. Another possibility would be Hayden Wesneski, who was recently moved to the bullpen to make room for the return of Kyle Hendricks from the Injured List. Assad, like Taillon, has gotten great results despite a not-so-great xFIP; Wesneski has pitched better but might not be yanked back in the rotation by this point.
Charlie Morton (7 GS, 43.0 IP, 23.8 K%, 8.3 BB%, 3.14 ERA, 3.69 FIP)
Charlie Morton will get the nod for Atlanta in the series finale Wednesday. Morton is coming off one of his best starts of the season, where he allowed just three hits, one run and struck out seven over seven innings against the Mets. He has allowed five runs in his last four starts combined (26 innings) and has logged at least six innings in each. Morton has a 5.27 ERA, 4.30 FIP, and 3.96 xFIP in 18 career starts against the Cubs. Unsurprisingly, those numbers are driven by his pre-Renaissance era in Pittsburgh, where he faced the Cubs over and over. That said, he was also hit hard in his one start against Chicago last season where he allowed four hits, four walks and five runs in just 4 1/3 innings while striking out four.
