Phillies Preview: at Atlanta Braves
The Philadelphia Phillies travel to Atlanta to take on the NL East rival Braves in a four game series at Turner Field.
The Phillies open up a four game series with the NL East Division rival Atlanta Braves on Thursday evening at Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia in what will be one of their final visits to that ballpark.
The Braves are moving through their final season at Turner Field, and will open brand new SunTrust Park in time for the 2017 season.
For this year, the Braves are the only thing standing between the Fightin’ Phils and the division basement. While the Phillies have rebounded slightly from last year’s debacle, Atlanta has inherited the mantle of “worst team in baseball”, currently sitting at the bottom of the overall MLB standings.
The Braves continue to try competing at a big league level with AAA talent for the most part. The only two consistent producers are 26-year old 1st baseman Freddie Freeman and 32-year old right fielder Nick Markakis.
Freeman is hitting for a .280/.363/.517 slash line with 18 homers, 41 RBI, 50 runs scored, and 48 extra-base hits. All of those lead the clubs, with the exception of Markakis’ 50 RBI.
Center fielder Ender Inciarte leads the active starters with 11 stolen bases. Gordon Beckham has 19 runs scored, 20 RBI, and 15 extra-base hits in just 167 plate appearances due to injuries.
Aside from those players, anything at all that the Braves receive as far as offensive production comes to them on an inconsistent basis at best.
Talented 25-year old closer Arodys Vizcaino is on the disabled list, so manager Brian Snitker will likely look to 22-year old rookie Mauricio Cabrera or 33-year old veteran Jim Johnson at the end of games.
The rest of the bullpen is a mixed bag of right-handers Jason Grilli, Alexi Ogando, and Chris Withrow and lefties Hunter Cervenka, Eric O’Flaherty, and Ian Krol.
This is the kind of series that the Phillies have the talent to take at least three of the four games, and doing so would allow them to return to Citizens Bank Park next week with a 5-5 record on this long road trip.
That has to be the goal, beating the teams behind you in the standings, but it has to come one game at a time, starting with an important outing by one of their starting pitchers.
Next: PHILLIES - BRAVES PITCHING MATCHUPS
PHILLIES – BRAVES PITCHING MATCHUPS
THURSDAY: Aaron Nola (5-9, 4.75 ERA) vs Matt Wisler (4-10, 4.92 ERA): Wisler is a 23-year old second year starter who came to the Braves in the big trade last April that sent Craig Kimbrel to the San Diego Padres. The righty was the Padres 7th round choice in the 2011 MLB Amateur Draft out of a Ohio high school. He relies primarily on his average four-seam fastball and a solid slider, while mixing in his curve, changeup, and a sinker as well. He is in a particularly rough stretch right now wherein over his last three starts, Wisler has allowed at least five earned runs in each while not reaching the 6th inning. He has a 9.98 ERA and .328 batting average against in those three most recent outings.
FRIDAY: Vincent Velasquez (8-2, 3.34 ERA) vs Tyrell Jenkins (0-2, 6.17 ER): Jenkins is a 23-year old rookie righty who was a supplemental first round pick by the Saint Louis Cardinals at 50th overall in the 2010 MLB Amateur Draft out of a Texas high school. He features a four-seam fastball and a sinker that, when at his best, cause hitters to pound balls into the ground. Jenkins received his big league call-up in the third week of June, pitched for a couple of weeks out of the Atlanta bullpen, and then was moved into the rotation on July 6th. He did well in his first two outings, but was pounded by the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in his most recent start, which obviously could be taken with somewhat of a grain of salt.
SATURDAY: Jeremy Hellickson (7-7, 3.65 ERA) vs Julio Teheran (3-8, 2.71 ERA): Teheran is the unquestioned ace of the Braves pitching rotation at just 25-years of age, and his name has been one of the hottest in trade rumors as the MLB non-waiver deadline comes on Monday. Strong success in this one could really heat up such talks for the right-hander who was signed back in 2007 as an international free agent out of Colombia. He was scheduled originally to pitch in the Thursday night opener, but has been dealing with ‘right lat tightness’ which forced him out of his last start after what had been four strong innings. This start was pushed back to Saturday, but there is a chance that he could be a late scratch or even pushed to Sunday.
SUNDAY: Jerad Eickhoff (6-12, 3.83 ERA) vs Mike Foltynewicz (4-4, 4.30 ERA): There is no guarantee that it will be Foltynewicz here, as the Braves have not announced their Sunday starter. But it would fall in the order where the 24-year old righty last appeared. He features a high-velo four-seamer and a hot slider, and has an effective changeup when the pitch is on. His curveball is a classic 12-6 offering, but has little depth. The Braves could also turn to Joel De La Cruz here, or even call-up one of either Aaron Blair or Casey Kelly to make this start.
Next: PHILS KEYS TO VICTORY IN ATLANTA
PHILLIES KEYS TO VICTORY OVER THE BRAVES
FRANCO NEEDS TO BECOME A FORCE: What do the Phillies really have in 3rd baseman Maikel Franco? Is he going to develop into a legitimate force in the middle of the lineup? A player who can produce what is expected in that role for a contender as both he and the team continue to mature? There is no doubt of his power. Franco is on pace to approach the 30-homer mark here in his age 23 season. But all of his slash line numbers are down from his rookie campaign a year ago. What the Phillies really need is for Franco to become more than a guy who gets hot now and then and bops a few balls over a few fences. They need him to be closer to the .280 hitter that he was last year, rather than the .260 hitter that he has been this season. If this is to be his typical type of season, then he may never be more than a contributing piece down the road. The answer could have huge ramifications for the club as it moves forward.
YOUNG STARTING PITCHER QUALITY: Nola has just one lone Quality Start over his last seven outings. Eickhoff has been knocked around in two of his last three. Velasquez has been a bright spot of late, getting through six innings in his last four consecutive starts. Reaching that point had become an issue for him over the previous two months. Each of those three needs to give the rotation a solid six inning performance on a more consistent basis.
HELLICKSON FINALE?: Saturday night could mark the right-handers final start in a Phillies uniform, as he has been the most discussed and rumored player with that Monday trade deadline looming. However, Matt Klentak will not simply give him away, supposedly wanting an organization’s ‘Top Five’ prospect in return. If he cannot get that price, you just might see Hellickson play out the year in a Phils uniform, and the team try to land draft pick compensation for losing him this coming off-season as a free agent. It would be nice to see JHell go out and put up a strong outing, and get some contender to come off a solid prospect.
Next: PHILLIES WEEKEND BROADCAST SCHEDULE
PHILLIES TV & RADIO BROADCAST SCHEDULE
Thursday, July 28 | @Atlanta | 7:10 PM | CSN-P | 94 WIP |
Friday, July 29 | @Atlanta | 7:35 PM | CSN-P | 94 WIP |
Saturday, July 30 | @Atlanta | 7:10 PM | NBC 10 | 94 WIP |
Sunday, July 31 | @Atlanta | 1:35 PM | CSN-P | 94 WIP |
Next: LONG WEEKEND WEATHER IN HOTLANTA
PHILLIES VS BRAVES – WEEKEND WEATHER IN ATLANTA
This Afternoon
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 4pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 91. Southwest wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Tonight
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 7pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. West wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Friday
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 89. West wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.
Friday Night
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 7pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74. West wind 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 91. West wind around 5 mph.
Saturday Night
A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 75.
Sunday
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 92.
Next: PHILLIES - BRAVES INJURIES / DISABLED LISTS
Atlanta Braves
Date | Player | Status |
7/16 | Arodys Vizcaíno, P | Strained right oblique (on 15-day DL) |
7/10 | Tyler Flowers, C | Fractured left hand (on 15-day DL) |
6/28 | John Gant, P | Strained left oblique (on 15-day DL) |
6/20 | Mallex Smith, CF | Fractured left thumb (on 15-day DL) |
6/7 | Williams Pérez, P | Strained right rotator cuff (on 15-day DL) |
4/11 | Dan Winkler, P | Fractured right elbow (on 15-day DL) |
4/3 | Jesse Biddle, P | Recovery from left elbow surgery (on 60-day DL) |
4/3 | Andrew McKirahan, P | Torn left elbow ligament (on 60-day DL) |
4/3 | Shae Simmons, P | Recovery from right elbow surgery (on 15-day DL) |
2/20 | Paco Rodríguez, P | Recovery from left elbow surgery (on 60-day DL) |
Philadelphia Phillies
Date | Player | Status |
7/25 | Andrés Blanco, SS | Fractured left index finger (on 15-day DL) |
4/24 | Charlie Morton, P | Torn left hamstring – out for season (on 60-day DL) |
4/2 | Aaron Altherr, LF | Torn tendon in left wrist (on 60-day DL) |
4/2 | Matt Harrison, P | Lower back inflammation (on 60-day DL) |