Braves Offense Will Shine Against World Series Champs

Rangers vs. Braves, 7:00 ET

This matchup might be the one that we missed out on last season. The best regular season team was the Atlanta Braves, and the team that was the best when it mattered most was the Texas Rangers. Tonight, on baseball's lone primetime spot, Sunday Night Baseball, they face each other. Baseball doesn't have many opportunities to showcase their best teams but they are doing it in this one. Let's take a look and see how we can bet the matchup between two of baseball's elite. 

Repeating as champion in baseball is very difficult to do. That's the journey that the Rangers are embarking on this season. They are off to a bit of a slow start with a record hovering around .500, but they have all the tools to make another run. Their pitching staff will get healthier. Their hitting should improve over the course of the year, but they are already one of the most elite offenses in baseball. As a team they are hitting over .260 and they have already scored over 100 runs this season, averaging over five runs per game. The pitching staff has an ERA around four which is decent enough, and their WHIP is in a manageable range. Today they send out Michael Lorenzen in hopes of slowing down the vaunted Atlanta offense. Lorenzen only had one start this season, a five-inning outing with three hits and no earned runs. It wasn't the prettiest outing as he did walk five hitters as well, but he escaped the damage. He can't afford to do that against the Braves. Lorenzen has pitched against the Braves a few times after being traded to the Phillies last season, and he has allowed hitters to bat .250 against him. The Braves have hit five home runs in their 22 hits off of him. 

Atlanta remains one of the best teams in baseball and one that can defeat you in a variety of ways. The Braves are able to just demoralize you with a lineup that features home-run hitters up and down the entire roster. The team, not just one player, but the team, is batting almost .300 so far this season. Their slugging percentage is almost .500 as well. The team is an offensive juggernaut, but they also have a strong pitching staff. The pitching isn't quite at the level of the hitting yet, but I would guess they will get there. The Braves have an ERA in the mid-4s which is a bit high. Their WHIP is not much different than the Rangers though so it could be that their opponents are capitalizing on the opportunities that they get. Tonight they have Darius Vines taking the ball in hopes of trying to slow down the strong Rangers offense. Vines only has one start under his belt this season - he went 4.2 innings and allowed just one earned run on four hits and three walks. He only had a couple of starts last season, and just five total appearances, but they were good outings. He has never faced a Ranger hitter so he could have a bit of an edge the first time through the lineup as they try to figure him out. 

I have to give Lorenzen a bit of credit, he has been decent enough against the Braves, but I wouldn't call him a stopper. There aren't many teams that I would say are offensively better than the Rangers, but the Braves are the best offense in baseball. I am not super familiar with Vines, but I think the Braves offense should provide him with run support where it might not matter. I'm going to take the Braves through five in this game. 

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