The Braves have set most of their rotation with opening day approaching Friday.
Sean Newcomb, who started Monday’s intrasquad game, will be the Braves’ third starter, manager Brian Snitker confirmed. Mike Foltynewicz will follow him, with the fifth slot to be announced.
In this case, the Braves wanted to pitch two southpaws against the Mets in the opening three-game series. Mike Soroka, a righty, will start opening day and be followed by southpaws Max Fried and Newcomb. The Braves are playing the matchups.
“Every game is going to be really, really important,” Snitker said. “Not that they all aren’t over 162 games, but with this expedited season, that’s the thinking.”
The Mets’ lineup is balanced but does feature several key players who perform worse against lefties, including Pete Alonso, Michael Conforto, Yoenis Cespedes, Robinson Cano and Jeff McNeil (whose .312 average and .378 on-base percentage last season against southpaws weren’t far behind his .320 and .387 marks against right-handers).
Foltynewicz’s first start will come against the Rays in St. Petersburg. The Braves’ fifth-starter options are all righties, and with Kyle Wright scheduled to pitch in two days, it looks increasingly as if he’ll start the fifth day. That game will be the second of a two-game series at Tampa Bay.
Soroka’s second start would be the home opener July 29 against the Rays.
The Braves had to adjust their rotation considerations throughout summer camp. Starter Felix Hernandez, who was a rotation candidate but not assured a spot on the roster, decided against playing this season. Left-hander Cole Hamels, one of the Braves’ big offseason acquisitions, has been behind since spring training because of injury issues and won’t be ready in the early part of the season.
Bryse Wilson, Touki Toussaint and Josh Tomlin are among other Braves who can cover multiple innings as a starter or reliever. The Braves will rely on them early in their piggybacking strategy, which is made possible by their quantity of pitchers.
With the pitching group rounding into shape, Snitker reiterated confidence in the Braves’ depth.
“You could tell they all worked out hard and a lot (entering camp),” Snitker said of his top four starters. “They picked it right up. I feel really good about where we’re going to be come Friday. Our guys are going to be stretched out. In this short period of time, we’ve done as good as we could do. We’ve got them right where we anticipated we would, everybody. The relievers have thrown multiples. They’re all stretched out and will probably be as good as we could ever hope.”
