After a disappointing end to their four-game series against the Dodgers and once again falling out of the postseason spots, the Atlanta Braves will once again need to pick themselves up and bounce back as they embark on a week-long road trip. They begin the road trip tonight with their series opener against the Cincinnati Reds.
With Reynaldo López currently on the injured list, the Braves needed someone to take his place for the time being, and as for tonight, that job will go to Grant Holmes. Holmes will enter this game having served as one of many reliable pitchers for Atlanta’s bullpen in 2024. He’s also been solid in the few times he’s been used as a starter. Unless we’re talking about what happened at Coors (what happened at Coors stays at Coors), Grant Holmes has done a perfectly fine job as a starter so far. I’m not saying we should expect Grant Holmes to last seven innings and keep Cincinnati completely quiet, but I’d be shocked if that ended in disaster.
I’d be especially shocked considering how Cincinnati’s lineup performed overall here in 2024. The Reds as a team have one of the five worst offensive performances according to team wRC+ (90), and have batted just .233/.306/.394 as a unit, with a team wOBA of .306. Granted, the Braves haven’t been much better (.240/.306/.408 with a .310 wOBA and 97 wRC+), but it gets a little more interesting when you compare what the two teams have done at home and away, respectively. The Reds have batted .232/.311/.406 at home this season, with a .313 wOBA and 89 wRC. Atlanta, on the other hand, has a team slash line of .234/.300/.410 on the road, with a .309 wOBA and 97 wRC+. They have also hit 108 home runs on the road, which is the third-highest number in all of baseball. While those averages aren’t exactly great (for either team), it will be very interesting to see if the Braves can show a little more life here on the road than they did in their last two games of the Dodgers series.
They’ll have to get it done against Brandon Williamson, who has been very solid for Cincy since his long-awaited return from injury on Sept. 1. He’s made three appearances and two starts, and the most he’s allowed in any of those appearances has been just one run. Granted, he hasn’t gone particularly far in any of those three appearances, but he’s slowly but surely improved when it comes to getting deeper into games. He made it through five innings in his last start, and if that continues, he might just make it to the sixth inning tonight. Given the way the Reds have been pitching as a team, it really wouldn’t be too surprising if they held Atlanta at bay for another game.
The story tonight is the same as it has been all month. The Braves just need to get the job done in any way they can to make sure they stay in the race for the postseason. Hopefully they can do that tonight, so this could potentially be the start of a good stretch. The Braves probably just need a good, extended stretch of form from now until the end of the season to get into the postseason. They’re still on the road, but they have a handful of favorable games right before the big series against the Mets next week. Before they can worry about next week, they need to make an impact this week, and tonight is the time for the Braves to do that against the Reds.
Game info
Date/time of the game: Tuesday, September 17, 6:40 p.m. ET
Location: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, Ohio
TV: Bally Sports South
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93,7 FM The Fan
