The Braves are continuing to handle Ronald Acuña Jr. with care, and Tuesday’s game in Chicago gives them another chance to do it. Acuña is back in the designated hitter spot for the second time in three days as Atlanta opens the middle game of its three-game set against the Cubs at 7:40 p.m. EDT.
Mauricio Dubón is also back at shortstop and batting fifth, while Brewer Hicklen gets a more unusual start in right field and hits ninth. Ozzie Albies, meanwhile, slides down to eighth against a right-handed starter for Chicago.
The Cubs didn’t release their lineup until nearly 6 p.m. EDT, more than two hours after Atlanta’s card was already out, but there weren’t any real surprises once it arrived. Michael Busch moves from third to sixth against a left-handed starter, Tyrone Taylor - acquired from the Mets in the David Peterson trade - is in the cleanup spot and playing left field, Matt Shaw takes over as the designated hitter in the seven-hole, and Miguel Amaya is in behind the plate and batting last.
The matchup history leans in a few different directions, but the biggest names on Atlanta’s side have had some success against Cubs starter Kevin Gausman. The current Braves have 100 combined career at-bats against him and are hitting .240 with three walks and 22 strikeouts. Their slugging percentage against Gausman is .450, and six of Atlanta’s all-time homers against him have come from this group.
Matt Olson has done the most damage, going 6-for-19 with three homers, putting him in position for a possible shot at No. 40.
Austin Riley is 4-for-9 with one homer, while Dubón and Mike Yastrzemski are each 3-for-9 with a homer of their own. Albies is 1-for-7, Michael Harris II is 2-for-9 and Ha-Seong Kim is 0-for-6.
On the other side, Chicago hasn’t exactly solved Braves starter Martín Pérez. Cubs hitters are just 15-for-77 against him, and Alex Bregman owns more than half of those at-bats, going 10-for-42 with a double and an RBI. He has a .238 average against Pérez, but his .373 on-base percentage stands out because he has drawn nine walks against just five strikeouts.
As a group, the Cubs have yet to homer off Pérez and have only four RBIs against him. Tyrone Taylor has the best average among current Chicago hitters against the left-hander at .286, going 2-for-7.
In Other News...
Braves Quietly Added A New Arm And The Bullpen Implications Matter
The Braves picked up another arm just as the regular season enters its final stretch, claiming right-hander Michael Grove off waivers from the Rays while Tampa Bay was sorting through its own late-season roster moves. Grove gives Atlanta another live option to plug into the pitching mix, and any addition at this stage tends to carry extra weight for a bullpen that can always use more coverage as the calendar winds down.
The move also came against a backdrop of more shuffling elsewhere on the Rays' roster, with Tyler Wells landing on the 15-day injured list because of right forearm tightness and ending his regular season. Alex Cook was brought up from Triple-A Durham to take Wells' place, while Jake Fraley returned from the 60-day injured list and Kenny Piper was sent back to Triple-A, a reminder of how quickly September roster management can change the look of a pitching staff. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Move On From Pitcher Still Trying To Rebound From Surgery
The Braves added another arm to the organizational pile Monday, claiming right-hander Michael Grove off waivers from the Rays and sending him to Triple-A Gwinnett. It is the kind of depth move that can matter more than it looks on the surface for a club trying to survive a rash of rotation injuries, especially with a pitcher who has worked both as a starter and a reliever in the majors.
Grove had been designated for assignment by Tampa Bay before Atlanta stepped in, giving the Braves a low-cost way to keep a familiar major league option in the system. For now, he gives them some extra flexibility at Gwinnett while the bigger question remains how soon the big league staff can get healthier. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Deadline Pickup Is Suddenly Fueling A Serious MLB Debate
Tyler Mahle has become one of the more interesting pitching stories in the league since landing with Atlanta at the deadline. In seven starts with the Braves, he has turned in a 1.25 ERA, a stretch that has not only stabilized the rotation but also forced people to reexamine how the trade market looks in hindsight. When a pitcher arrives at a lower cost and immediately performs like this, it is hard not to compare the deal to the bigger names that changed uniforms around the same time.
Jeff Francoeur has already gone as far as calling Mahle the best pitcher to move midseason, and the argument has enough fuel to keep circulating. Tarik Skubal has been solid with the Dodgers over the same number of appearances, but Atlantas return has been the cleaner headline so far, especially considering what it took to get Mahle. Still, these evaluations are always fluid this time of year, and the final verdict may depend on how both pitchers finish the season. [Read more 🡒]