Braves have pitching plans mapped out for weekend
MIAMI — Offensively, the Braves will approach this weekend’s series in Miami fairly close to normal. On the mound? Almost everyone will get some work, regardless of score and circumstance.
Left-hander Ray Kerr was scheduled to start Friday’s game against the Marlins, the first of a three-game series as the National League East champion Braves close out the regular season. When Kerr’s night is done, Grant Holmes will take over on the mound.
“There’s a lot of different things that happen in the postseason. You attack things differently from the mound,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said Friday at loanDepot Park.
“I think back to the ’21 World Series, Dylan Lee ended up making his first start ever in the World Series. So there’s some scenarios that maybe we use (Kerr) as an opener at some point, or maybe Holmes comes out of the pen at some point. Just trying to take a look at some things.”
Weiss said the Braves are hoping to see Holmes (10-5, 3.47) pitch four or five innings Friday.
On Saturday, the Braves will play a bullpen game. On Sunday, rookie JR Ritchie (1-4, 4.79) will make his 11th start of the season.
“The priority is getting guys their appearances and getting them their rest,” Weiss said. “The pitching plan is somewhat set in stone with some of our guys, not all of them. Sunday (is) probably dependent on what happens Saturday, as far as who’s going to pitch out of the pen and that type of thing. It’ll look a little different this series.”
Another facet of the Braves (93-66) not having a traditional starting rotation this final weekend is injury-driven. Chris Sale (14-9, 2.16) and Tyler Mahle (7-10, 3.99), respectively, will start the first two games of the NL Wild Card series Tuesday and Wednesday at Truist Park. After that, it could all depend on matchups, availability and health.
If that best-of-three series next week gets to a third game, scheduled for Thursday at Truist Park, the Braves won’t have Bryce Elder, Martín Pérez or Reynaldo López available because all three are on the injured list.
And if the Braves were able to get past the Wild Card round, they’d be headed to Los Angeles to face the Dodgers in a best-of-five series starting Oct. 3 at Dodger Stadium. Who starts on the mound in the third, or fourth, or fifth games of that series could follow the same strategy as the Wild Card round.
“Like I’ve said often, it started the first day of spring training and hasn’t really stopped,” Weiss said of the injuries to Braves’ pitchers. “But guys have handled it really well. Guys have gotten opportunities, have done a nice job with it. So nothing new to us. You wish you were going into a postseason full strength, but, feel like our depth has been pretty good.”