Atlanta Braves - Overview (2024)

Morton matched his season high with eight strikeouts. In the entire history of MLB, only Nolan Ryan (five times), Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens and Orlando Hernández have managed to strike out at least a batter an inning at age 40 or over (min. 130 innings). Morton, with 52 Ks in 51 IP to date, has a chance to join the club.

As expected, Stephens is back in the fold with Atlanta as extra relief depth. The 30-year-old righty made just three appearances earlier this season for the Braves before being designated for assignment earlier this month.

Murphy caught seven innings behind the plate and also threw out a runner attempting to steal second base in this one. The 29-year-old backstop looked ready to return to the majors in this one, but he’ll presumably get at least a couple more contests under his belt before heading back to Atlanta.

No surprise here as Riley will miss his eighth straight contest due to an ongoing side issue after sitting out both contests of Monday’s doubleheader. There’s been zero indication that he’ll wind up requiring a trip to the injured list, despite the fact that he’s yet to resume swinging a bat. It’s a frustrating situation for fantasy managers, but it doesn’t sound like the Braves are going to make a roster move at this juncture. It’ll be Zack Short drawing another start at the keystone on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.

Hernandez, 27, was pitching well for Gwinnett with a 1.65 ERA and 22/9 K/BB over 12 appearances and 16 1/3 innings. He’ll take the roster spot of Ray Kerr, with Kerr heading to Triple-A in the corresponding transaction.

Kerr goes despite not pitching in today’s doubleheader, though he did work hard Sunday. It sounds like the Braves might want to evaluate him as a rotation option, so perhaps he’ll start a couple of games at Gwinnett and then rejoin the team. He had a 2.89 ERA in 9 1/3 innings over four relief appearances during his time in the majors.

D’Arnaud took a foul ball off the mask in last Friday’s game and subsequently sat out of Saturday and Sunday’s games. He was cleared of a possible concussion and returned to the lineup with a three-hit game. D’Arnaud’s time as Atlanta’s primary catcher might be coming to a close soon as the injured Sean Murphy is nearing a rehab assignment.

Ozuna continues his monster season with his 14th home run of the year in the second game of the doubleheader. Only Gunnar Henderson and Kyle Tucker have more home runs this year. Ozuna hit 40 home runs last year and didn’t hit his 14th home run last year until June 22nd. His average is up to .327 and he has a 1.047 OPS this year.

Iglesias had allowed one run in three of his previous six appearances, which included one blown save. He got the Padres to go quietly with a clean ninth inning to preserve the Braves 3-0 shutout victory. Iglesias had the last two days off and only threw 13 pitches so he should be well rested for his next appearance.

The win was Sale’s seventh in nine starts this season. He continued his excellent run and lowered his ERA to 2.22, which is in the top five in the National League among qualified starters. In Sale’s last five starts, he’s struck out 43 batters, allowed no more than one walk in any start and no more than one earned run in any start. He’s been great this year for fantasy managers that took a chance on the oft-injured pitcher. The 35-year-old left-hander is scheduled to face the Pirates on the road on Saturday.