Here we go, folks.
Another win today and the Braves are back to .500. Before May.
Not too shabby after that horrific start.
TODAY’S MATCHUP
It’s a day game in Denver!
📺 How to watch: First pitch at 3:10 p.m. Eastern on FanDuel Sports.
⚾ The pitching matchup: Chris Sale (1-2, 5.40 ERA) vs. Chase Dollander (1-3, 7.91 ERA).
Dollander, the Rockies’ 2023 first-round draft pick, made his Major League debut earlier this month. He’s from Evans (outside Augusta) and went to Georgia Southern before finishing up his college career at Tennessee.
📝 The starting lineup:
- Michael Harris II
- Austin Riley
- Marcell Ozuna
- Matt Olson
- Ozzie Albies
- Eli White
- Drake Baldwin
- Nick Allen
- Eddie Rosario
GOING FOR THE SWEEP
I wrote about this in today’s Sports Daily newsletter (join the club, if you’re not in already!). And I don’t want to jinx things.
But gracious, it sure feels like the Braves have found their way.
And climbing back to a .500 record so quickly after starting 0-7 would be quite a nice way to end the month of April.
“We want to win as many games as possible,” first baseman Matt Olson said. “Hopefully, here pretty soon, we’ll be on the positive side of that and not look back.”
😤 Here’s the deal: It’s not just that the Braves are winning. It’s how they’re doing it.
Last night’s 8-2 victory was the Braves’ second straight game with 14 hits. And their second straight without a home run, too.
They’re producing runs with singles and doubles and groundouts and sac flies.
The same squad that started the season 1-for-34 with runners in scoring position is now hitting .256 in those situations.
Solid, previously unfathomable work.
😤 And win or lose today, they better keep it going: The Dodgers come to Truist Park this weekend.
A WELCOME RETURN
The Rockies are not a good baseball team. They’ve won four games this year.
But AJ Smith-Shawver’s return to the big-league Braves still offered plenty of encouraging developments.
- The 22-year-old made it through 5⅓ innings before leaving after taking a liner off the arm (he said he felt fine afterward).
- He threw just 59 pitches — 46 of them strikes.
- The two runs he surrendered came on a solo homer and a fielder’s choice.
“Just attacking the zone, just staying ahead of hitters,” he said of his approach. “When you put yourself in good counts, it puts you in good situations.”
🤔 Y’all think he should stick around in the rotation, even after Spencer Strider returns?
PARTY LIKE AN ALL-STAR
Several weeks ago, I shared a little tidbit from an interview I had with MLB Senior Vice President of Special Events Jeremiah Yolkut.
He hinted at “a large theme park” coming to the Cobb Galleria when Truist Park hosts the All-Star game in July.
⭐ Now we have more specifics — and you can go ahead and buy tickets, too.
More details here, but four days of festivities include visits from mascots, former Braves and Hall of Famers. Plus museum-type exhibits and lots of interactive stuff like this:
- “MLB The Show 25″ gaming kiosks and giveaways.
- The “MLB Draft Experience,” where fans are called to a podium like the No. 1 pick of their favorite team.
- Virtual reality batting cages.
- And SwingMatch, an interactive setup that lets kids to see which MLB All-Star they swing like.
⭐ Regular admission is $35, but you can get tickets for $10 for a limited time. Go to AllStarGame.com and use the code “PBPO.”
OUT OF LEFT FIELD
A tad random, but — have y’all seen this beef brewing between Braves legend Chipper Jones and NASCAR driver Joey Logano?
We won’t get too far into the weeds, but basically: Jones didn’t like the harsh words Logano shared with a teammate at Talladega over the weekend. He voiced that displeasure on social media.
🗣️ Logano responded: “That’s like me saying something about baseball. I know nothing about baseball. That’s like me saying something that he did something in baseball that was wrong. That doesn’t matter.”
Thanks for reading Braves Report. Tell a friend — and maybe give the AJC’s Sports Daily newsletter a shot, too.
Until next time.
About the Author
Tyler Estep hosts the AJC Win Column, Atlanta's new weekly destination for all things sports. He also shepherds the Sports Daily and Braves Report newsletters to your inbox.
