June swoon is OUT. Fly high July is IN.
We would very much like to see the Braves get back to playing watchable baseball. Decent, even, if they feel so inclined.
With a rough month in the rearview, it’s time for the Braves to take advantage of a little mental reset that the first of July can bring and get back to their winning ways on both sides of the ball.
One former-White-Sox-pitcher-turned-Braves-starter-turned-bullpen-arm-turned-starter-again follows another with Martín Pérez and Reynaldo López starting these first two games versus the St. Louis Cardinals. Walt Weiss is sticking with the same 1 through 5, 7, and 9 in the order. We saw some signs of life from leadoff man Drake Baldwin last night with his seventh inning single, snapping a 36-at-bat streak. He will be behind the plate for López today. Dominic Smith will DH and hit sixth while Mike Yastrzemski swaps out in Eli White’s spot to play right field and bat eighth ahead of shortstop Jorge Mateo.
Maybe this will be the magical combination that can put up a crooked number against their opponent (and win). A baseball team cannot sustain itself on weird defensive misplays and Ozzie Albies sac flies alone. (Fun stuff from the game notes: Ozzie’s sac fly last night was his 10th of the season and career high – he’s one of seven Braves with double-digit sac flies in a season. He’s the first to do it since Austin Riley had 11 in 2023.)
Only three current Cardinals have ever faced López before and they will be batting second, third, and sixth. In five collective ABs, they’re batting .000 and have one walk courtesy of Masyn Winn. Alec Burleson gets the start at first bae and bumps down Jordan Walker to the cleanup spot. New face Jimmy Crooks will catch for Michael McGreevy and bat ninth.
