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This is a weird little two-game series, so here’s a weird little two-game preview.
The Braves are not good. They are the worst team in MLB, but that’s not really news to anyone. The Twins managed to pull ahead of them in the W-L department thanks to some average to above average play over the last few weeks.
So rather than talking about the bad, let’s look at what is good about the Braves:
Freddie Freeman and Julio Teheran, and A.J. Pierzynski.
Freeman is their best hitter, hitting .866 in OPS which the highest on the team, by far. Likewise, Teheran is their best pitcher, with an adjusted ERA of 150 (50% better than average). The Braves don’t appear to be willing to trade either of these players, which makes some sense. You don’t want your best player to be Tyler Flowers (on the 15 day DL).
Tuesday, July 26th, 7:10 PM CDT
Lucas Harrell vs. Ervin Santana
The smart fan will note that Ervin is a former Brave, something I had to look up to find out.
Wednesday, July 27th, 7:10 PM CDT
Mike Foltynewicz (a real player) vs. Tyler Duffey
Foltynewicz is a right-hander out of Illinois (like Rich Becker if he was right handed and a pitcher), and has been pretty decent so far (3.79 ERA, 8.0 K/9). Duffey lasted only 2.1 innings his last time out, giving up 9 hits and 6 runs to the Red Sox.