Braves line up starting pitching for Padres series
On Sunday, the Braves announced their probable starting pitchers for an upcoming four-game series against the Padres this week at Truist Park.
Right-hander Bryce Elder (5-6, 4.12) will make his first start since the All-Star break when he takes the mound Monday. Elder had a 1.88 ERA over his first seven starts this season but has since gone 2-5 over his last 11 starts and allowed 38 earned runs in 59 2/3 innings.
On Tuesday, Reynaldo López (4-2, 3.50) is scheduled to make his 10th start of the season and fifth since returning to the rotation after working out of the bullpen for nearly two months. López has a 3.50 ERA is his return to a starting role and in his last start in St. Louis (July 11), he gave up four earned runs on five hits in five innings.
The Braves have not yet announced a starter for Wednesday’s matchup with the Padres, but it’s likely that day will see the return of Martín Pérez. Pérez has been on the injured list since July 5 when he was hit on the arm by a line drive in a game against the Mets.
Pérez (6-6, 3.54) threw a bullpen session Sunday morning at Truist Park.
“There’s a chance we pop (Pérez) in here at some point soon,” Braves’ manager Walt Weiss said Saturday. “He’s on the radar. He’s getting close to being game active again.
“He rebounded well. To be honest with you, not a terrible thing that he got a little break. Threw 50 innings last year, so I think probably good timing if there is such a thing for something like that. Chances are he’s probably gonna need a break at some point this year anyway.”
For Thursday’s day game, left-handed ace Chris Sale will climb the hill again. Sale was dominant in his first post-All-Star break start Friday when he threw seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball against the Rangers.
The Braves are in the midst of 17 games in 17 days to begin the second half of the season. Rookie Owen Murphy was given a start Saturday and that experiment did not go well as the right hander couldn’t make it out of the third inning.
Rookie JR Ritchie (1-2, 4.29), who threw one inning Saturday in relief of Murphy, could also be asked to make a start during the stretch. Hurston Waldrep (0-1, 8.44) and AJ Smith-Shawver are at Triple-A Gwinnett and may be options as well.
“A lot of it just has to do with how things unfold moving forward,” Weiss said Friday. “We got 17 straight, so there’s a chance we pop in a sixth guy at some point. Not sure what we did to the schedule makers, but 13 straight to start the year and 17 straight coming out of the break, so it’ll test us.
“But we’ve handled it well in the past when we had to play like that. We’ll have to stay out in front of the bullpen.”
The Braves will face Padres pitchers JP Sears (2-2, 5.03), Walker Buehler (5-5, 5.36), Michael King (6-7, 3.34) and Griffin Canning (1-8, 6.67), respectively, this week.