Happy Tuesday, y’all.
Before we get started, can you do me a favor and tell a Braves-loving friend about this newsletter? And share the sign-up link?
They’ll like it, you’ll feel good about yourself and I’ll get a few new subscribers. A win-win-win if I’ve ever seen one.
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
It’s Braves-Phillies tonight from Truist Park. And the good guys could use a win.
📺 How to watch: 7:15 p.m. on FanDuel Sports. If you’re outside the Atlanta market, you can watch on TBS instead.
☀️ The forecast: Expect clear skies and temperatures around 60 degrees at first pitch.
⚾ The starters: Chris Sale (0-1, 5.40 ERA) vs. Zack Wheeler (1-0, 1.38 ERA) should make for one heckuva matchup.
💪 Reinforcements: No word on tonight’s lineups just yet, but catcher Sean Murphy is ready for his 2025 debut after rehabbing his rib injury.
WHEELING AND DEALING
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
OK, back to the pitching matchup.
Sale got almost all the first-place votes for last season’s National League Cy Young Award. Wheeler was the only other pitcher to get a few, ultimately finishing second.
- Wheeler is originally from Smyrna and went to East Paulding High School. The righty’s first five major league seasons were with the Mets.
- In the subsequent five-plus seasons with Philadelphia, his cumulative ERA is 2.77.
😬 Over his entire career, Wheeler is 13-8 with a 2.95 ERA against his hometown team.
😬 Among current Braves, outfielders Bryan De La Cruz (5-for-18) and Jarred Kelenic (2-for-5) have had decent luck against him. No one else is hitting above .239.
- Sale, of course, spent his pre-Braves career in the American League. His only start against the Phillies in 2024 was a 5-4 Atlanta loss.
LOSING POWER
Power rankings are both meaningless and fun.
Less of the latter, of course, if your team gets off to an abysmal start. But here’s a look at where the Braves stand on some of the big lists.
📊 MLB.com dropped Atlanta all the way to No. 19.
📊 The Athletic put the Braves at No. 10, right before the Orioles and Cubs.
📊 NBC Sports took a similar tack, ranking Atlanta at No. 11.
That first one feels a tad aggressive, but the others are probably fair at this point. Not ideal for a team that was in the top three of most lists less than two weeks ago!
HANK MAKES HISTORY
We mentioned Braves legend Henry Aaron’s record-tying 714th homer the other day — so we gotta relive his 715th, right?
It was 51 years ago today, on April 8, 1974, that Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s record.
Credit: File photo
Credit: File photo
You’ve probably heard the goospimple-y call from Dodgers announcing legend Vin Scully. Or even seen Aaron talk about it.
But I’d never read the print writeups.
📝 Here’s what Frank Hyland had in The Atlanta Journal, in part: “For 39 years, the legend of Ruth had reigned supreme. His was the one record which would withstand the test of time. But it started to crumble when a skinny black teenager from Mobile, Ala., stepped on a train 23 years ago with two dollars and two sandwiches in his pocket.
“‘Even five years ago,’ Aaron said, ‘I didn’t think I’d be here.‘”
NICE HAT BRO
Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
The Braves Report ain’t in the ad business. That said … I thought y’all might like to know that center fielder Michael Harris II and his wife, Esther, helped design a new collection of Braves caps that look pretty cool.
The caps officially launch Wednesday at the Threads by Braves Clubhouse Store at the Battery, and the Harrises will be on-site between 11 a.m. and noon.
Thanks for reading Braves Report. Tell a friend — and maybe give the AJC’s Sports Daily newsletter a shot, too.
Until next time.
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