Braves Come Home to Face Struggling Nationals

It’s always good to come home.  The Atlanta Braves have been on the road the last week and a half and haven’t played at Turner Field since Jackie Robinson Day (4/15).  After a power surge in Toronto, the Braves bats fell asleep in Queens.  Though outscoring Philadelphia 9-8 the series, Atlanta lost two of three to the Phillies this past weekend.  The Braves find themselves losers of five of their last six games.  While the perpetually hungry Braves will surely miss those Philadelphia cheesesteaks, what will really satisfy their appetites is a couple of savory victories over the rival Washington Nationals.

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The Nats come to the Ted for a three game set this week.  Picked by many to come out of the National League this year, Washington has scuffled to start the 2015 MLB season.  Their 7-12 record comes as a surprise as their starting pitching depth is the best in baseball.  While the pitching staff has done well (3.55 ERA), their defense has been the second worst in baseball (18 errors in 19 games!).  The bats aren’t coming alive (.218 team batting average) and no one is stealing any bases (3 SBs, dead last in baseball).

The injury bugs have plagued Washington as RP Craig Stammen will undergo Tommy John surgery, newly acquired SP Max Scherzer might miss Tuesday’s start, and IF Anthony Rendon has yet to play this season.  As tough it has been for Braves of late, it’s been much worse for the Nats.

Tonight’s starters are Eric Stults (0-1, 4.50 ERA) vs. Doug Fister (1-0, 2.37 ERA).  Stults has been okay but not spectacular in Braves uniform.  Look for him to build on a solid last start in New York (6IP, 1ER).

If Scherzer can go Tuesday, we could have another pitching duel on our hands as he would face off with Braves Ace Julio Teheran.  Jordan Zimmermann and Alex Wood headline Wednesday night’s affair.

Runs could be hard to come by in this series because of both teams’ quality starting pitchers.  If that is the case, I would give the slight edge to Atlanta as this year’s team isn’t afraid to play small ball.  Philadelphia excelled at manufacturing runs this weekend through sacrifice bunts and stolen bases. That played a huge part in their series win over the Braves.  Even if Washington decides to run in this series, that may prove challenging as Braves C Christian Bethancourt has a rocket for an arm behind the plate.

Small ball may not matter as Andrelton Simmons and AJ Pierzynski are swinging a hot bat.  Nick Markakis and Andrelton Simmons look good batting first and second in the order.  Freddie Freeman hit better yesterday back in the three hole.  After playing a different lineup every night, Fredi may have found something that can work well for the Atlanta Braves going forward.

First pitch is at 7:10 ET. Let’s Go Braves! Beat those Nats!