Offenses Have Edge In Braves Vs Mets
Braves vs. Mets, 7:00 ET
Braves vs. Mets, 7:00 ET
If we are going to watch baseball on Sunday, most of us either pick watching our favorite team, or we end up watching Sunday Night Baseball. It is one of the few times that the MLB really has the spotlight. I made mention of this in yesterday's article about Paul Skenes starting. There are just too many games in a season for them to command the attention. With football, you get 17 games, and despite it having the least amount of action, it almost feels like every game is a playoff game. The good thing about Sunday Night Baseball is that we usually get very good matchups, which creates somewhat of a playoff atmosphere. Tonight, we see the Braves take on the Mets in that type of matchup.
It might be too early to talk about the playoffs, but you have to assume the Braves are going to make it, and the Mets probably will not. Still, there are some reasons to be concerned about Atlanta, even this early in the season. The Braves are still hitting the cover off of the ball with a batting average above .250, and scoring runs at a higher rate than most teams. However, they have been in a bit of a mini-slump as they looked like mortals against other playoff hopefuls, the Mariners and Dodgers in a recent West Coast road trip. During that trip, they lost five of six games, and only scored 11 runs. I wouldn't exactly say that the Dodgers pitching staff is the best in the game, but the Braves did have to face Tyler Glasnow and James Paxton, so it wasn't exactly the backend of the rotation either. Now they close out this three-game road trip to New York and send out Bryce Elder to try and grab this final game. Elder will be making his fourth start of the season. His first two were nice outings, seeing him cover 12 innings, allow 12 hits, four walks, and just two earned runs. His last start was a disaster. He was chased in the fourth inning as he allowed serve earned runs on seven hits with another four walks, and three home runs allowed. It was ugly. Everyone is entitled to a stinker, and the Dodgers can do that to almost everyone, so maybe we shouldn't be too hard on him. The Mets are just 12-for-49 against him with four extra-base hits.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 04: Pete Alonso #20 of the New York Mets celebrates his two-run home run with Francisco Lindor #12 in the third inning against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field on August 04, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
The Mets are somewhat of a scrappy club. They don't have a ton of power (though they started this series with more home runs than the Braves), they don't have a true Ace (even though they went into last year with two of them in the rotation), and they seemingly are trying to figure out a good combination to make a winning club. You have to respect that. Even if it didn't work out last year, they pressed reset, but also didn't fully tank. This season has been average so far, and while that won't put you in position to win this division, it at least doesn't drop you out of a race in early May either. The team is hitting rather well overall with a batting average above .240, and the club has pitched well with a patchwork of arms that they've put together. Their team has a 3.72 ERA which won't "Wow" anyone, but it is a decent enough staff. The biggest problem with their team is the walks. On the season they've already issued over four walks per game. That's hard to win when you allow that many hitters on base, even if you hold opponents to the .220-ish batting average they have. Today their best starter, Luis Severino takes the mound. Severino has a 2.93 ERA for the season and a 1.18 WHIP. Walks have been the big issue for him as he has issued almost one walk every other inning. He is clearly getting out of the trouble, but you're playing with fire there. Braves hitters have been decent against him with a .250 batting average.
On paper, you'd probably take the Braves every time. They have the better lineup, they probably have the better bullpen, and they have the bigger superstars. That doesn't always matter in baseball though. Pitching matters, in this game, Severino is a better pitcher than Elder. Now, I expect Elder to pitch better than he has in the past. I just don't think it matters all that much. Both of these pitchers will probably be touched up for some runs. I'm expecting the over here and will take that for the full game.
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