As the Atlanta Braves face off against the Chicago Cubs for the sixth time in their past ten games concluding their series at Wrigley Field, two rookie pitchers will be facing off in Ben Brown and AJ Smith-Shawver.
Brown had two innings against the Braves on May 15th, and Smith-Shawver had 3.2 innings against the Cubs last September.
Both pitchers had relatively good results. Brown gave up four hits (two doubles) and one earned run, but had three strikeouts when he faced the Braves earlier this month. Smith-Shawver, who will be facing a lineup that is largely the same as last September, gave up one run on zero hits, one walk, and two strikeouts in his 3.2 innings of work.
On the offensive side of the ball, Austin Riley is still out of the lineup, which one may have thought that means Zack Short will get another start. Short has been a pleasant surprise for the Braves this year. He has been no All-Star, but considering he was essentially swapped for Luis Guillorme, his .214/.371/.286 has been welcomed. However, Luke Willaims will get the nod and will be batting ninth.
Although Duvall hit a home run last night, it could come as no shock that Kelenic is back in the lineup since Brown is an RHP. Brown struck out Kelenic in his one at-bat against him. Chadwick Tromp will also be getting a start, batting eighth.
The sample size against Brown is extremely small since he only has 2.0 innings against the Braves in his young career, but it should be noted that Orlando Arcia and Short both have a double off of him, while Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson also have a base knock.
As for the Cubs, it is much of the same story. Although most of them have faced Smith-Shawver before, the sample size is extremely small. None of them got a hit off of Smith-Shawver, but Tauchman has drawn a walk. It will be interesting to see how they do against him because Smith-Shawver has been struggling mightily as of late, but he pitched well against this lineup last year.
First pitch is at 2:20 ET
