Atlanta Braves at St. Louis Cardinals: Series opener
Editor’s Note: We botched the info on this preview for guys, and we’d like to apologize for that. Thanks to Nathan Smith for pointing it out to us in the comments and feel free to do the same in the future if you notice any factual errors. Ervin Santana was on the mound against Lance Lynn in this game, not Harang and Miller. You can check out our recap of the game here.
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After a series loss to the San Francisco Giants and a day off, the Atlanta Braves are in St. Louis to try and get some swift revenge against the Cardinals. Just three series ago, the red birds took a 2-1 advantage in Turner Field and the Bravos should be looking to do the same (or better) at Busch Stadium.
In the opening matchup tonight, Aaron Harang is going to face off against Shelby Miller. Let’s take a look at the numbers these two guys have put up so far:
Shelby Miller: Somehow Shelby Miller is 5-2 early this season, so he must be getting a fair amount of run support–his numbers just don’t look that great. He’s striking out just 6.65 batters per nine innings and walking over 5.44 batters per nine. Those are terrible marks… I don’t remember the last time I noticed a pitcher walking that many hitters. His HR/9 ratio is also pretty rough, as he’s giving up 1.61 long balls per nine innings. One of the things that’s been helping him out this season is his extremely high LOB percentage (left on base percentage), which is 91.6 percent–quite a bit above his career average of 82.9 percent.
Hopefully tonight a bit of that luck will start to fade for him. There’s no way it lasts all season, so better sooner than later right?
Aaron Harang: After looking at Miller’s numbers, Aaron Harang starts to look like some kind of an ace… I exaggerate, but you get the point. Harang’s putting up crazy strikeout numbers (9.68 K/9) and respectable walk marks (3.17 BB/9) while posting a 2.98 ERA, 2.54 FIP and 3,43 xFIP. Arguably the biggest reason for Harang’s early success with Atlanta is the fact that he’s giving up so few long balls. His HR/FB and HR/9 numbers are both well below his career averages at 3.8 percent and .38 respectively.
We should expect those to regress eventually but better later than sooner right?
Here are the particulars for tonight’s game:
Date: May 16, 2014
Start Time: 8:15 p.m.
TV Channel: SportSouth
Radio: 680 AM/106.7 FM (Local in Atlanta), Full list of Local Affiliates
Live Stream: MLB.tv (Click Here, $)
Be sure to follow us on Twitter (@ATLBeatBlog) for more information (including all of your Atlanta Braves action), and check back after the game for a full recap. Sound off in the comments!