After wrapping up a series against the Orioles with a dud on Thursday, it’s time for another marquee matchup at Yankee Stadium this weekend, this time one from the National League. Starting tonight, the Braves will be in town for a three-game series in the Bronx, featuring some high-profile names all over the field.
Despite their powerful roster that’s won 100 games in both of the last two seasons, the Braves have actually been just so-so by their standards so far this year. After a nice start to the campaign, they’ve been just .500ish since the beginning of May. That’s caused them to fall several games behind the very impressive Phillies in the NL East.
Among the blows that’s caused this has been Ronald Acuña Jr., who wasn’t having a year of his caliber, and is also now out for the season after suffering an ACL tear. Besides him, the Braves will also be without Michael Harris II, who just recently hit the IL with a hamstring strain. Adding to that, they’ve been without Opening Day starter Spencer Strider for a while now, as he underwent a season-ending surgery back in April. Even with those guys out, Atlanta’s lineup still features plenty of very dangerous players, but only a couple have truly played up to their full potential so far this year. (Check out Andrés’ article later today for more.)
Before things get underway tonight, let’s take a look at the pitching matchups we’ll see this weekend.
Friday: Carlos Rodón vs. Chris Sale (7:05 pm ET)
Rodón comes into this matchup off his worst start of 2024 so far. He gave up five runs in the first two innings last Saturday as the Yankees dropped a game to the Red Sox. Even despite that, he did a solid job after the first couple frames, settling down and eating some innings without allowing things to get out of hand. Prior to that start, he had been excellent of late, posting a 2.28 ERA in his seven prior starts.
Opposite him will be his former White Sox teammate and an old Yankees AL East foe in Chris Sale. After a couple down and injury-filled years to end his Red Sox tenure, Sale has turned back the clock in Atlanta and is on track for his best season since 2018. So far this year, he’s put up a 2.98 ERA, a 2.34 FIP, and he’s struck out 99 batters in 81.2 innings. Sale has also walked just 13 batters, and only six have taken him deep. He’s been especially impressive since around the start of May. Since then, he has a 2.52 ERA, which even includes one start where he gave up eight runs. This one might be a battle.
Note: Be warned that this is an Apple TV+ game and won’t be on anywhere else.
Saturday: Marcus Stroman vs. Charlie Morton (7:15 pm ET)
Like Rodón, Stroman is coming into this start off a so-so one in Boston. He also hasn’t made it past the sixth inning in any of his outings so far in June, even lasting just 5.2 innings in a shutout outing in Kansas City. Stroman has spent the previous three and change seasons in the National League, and one and change of those as a Braves division rival with the Mets. For his career, he’s put up a 2.61 ERA in 38 innings against Atlanta. For more on Stroman, check out David’s article from yesterday on his cutter.
So far this year, Morton has only been a bit above average with a 104 ERA+. However, he famously has had a decent amount of success against the Yankees in his career, having previously spent time with the Astros and Rays. He first faced them all the way back in 2014 with Pittsburgh. Last year in game in Atlanta, he mowed through the Yankees, striking out 10 in 6 scoreless innings.
Sunday: Nestor Cortes vs. Max Fried (1:35 pm ET)
Earlier this week, Cortes put in a very nice outing during the Orioles’ series. He allowed no runs on five hits over six innings. In general, his last two starts have been pretty good, which is nice to see after he had gone nearly a month without getting out of the sixth inning, a period during which he had given up five home runs over four starts.
After dealing with injuries on and off in 2023, Fried has been back in full force in 2024. He has a 3.11 ERA and 3.33 FIP, which is pretty good considering he started the year by allowing 15 runs over his first 4 games. Fried twirled a Maddux in his next start and from that point onward, he’s posted a 2.00 ERA and .465 OPS against in 10 outings. He also beat the Yankees in the two teams’ meeting last year, allowing two runs in six innings in a Braves’ win.
