Continue To Rely On Sale In Dominating Year

Braves vs. Mets, 7:10 ET

Another 1-1 day in the books yesterday as the Orioles let me down. I suppose I should've noticed it as Baltimore hasn't played well lately and the line was too good to be true. They were down by three and then tied the game up which gave me hope. Unfortunately, that was all the scoring the Orioles did as they lost the game 6-3 and cost me a winning day. We did get the other game, a small +110 winner as the Reds coasted to victory over one of the teams in today's game, the Braves. This is a big series for both clubs as the Braves take on the Mets with Wild Card implications for this weekend series.

The Braves are struggling right now with a four-game losing streak. Right now, Atlanta is 54-46 for the season, and they are finally showing signs of all of the health problems. Going into this game, the Braves are up two games on the last place Wild Card spot on the Cardinals and Padres who are tied right now. They are up just 0.5 games on the Mets, so by the end of this series, they could drop out of the last spot, or they might be able to pad their lead. The front office has been talked about quite a bit lately as they are looking for help to bolster the club in the rotation and in other areas. If you look at their team, they have injuries to three or four key spots right now. Perhaps the biggest addition to their team would be health of some of the players coming back to the lineup. Is this recent skid a blip on the radar, or are all of the issues just too much to overcome at this point? Only time will tell. One bright spot for them is that they get Chris Sale to start today's game against the Mets. Sale had a terrific first half of the season, and now looks to continue that run after the All-Star Break. Sale leads the Majors with a 13-3 record, is sixth with a 2.70 ERA, sixth in strikeouts, and has the third-best WHIP in baseball. Those sound like Cy Young numbers to me. He has made 18 starts, and just three of the outings have seen him allow three or more runs. He hasn't faced the Mets this season, but has struggled against Francisco Lindor. Aside from him, the Mets would be 24-for-84, which is still good for a .284 average.

Jul 20, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA;  New York Mets starting pitcher Luis Severino (40) throws against the Miami Marlins in the first inning at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports

The Mets are the opposite of the Braves right now. They have won four of their past five games and are looking like one of the best teams in baseball for more than a month now. Since June 12th, the Mets are 25-11, completely turning the season around. The Mets are unique because they spent a ton of money last season to put together a great roster. Then they got rid of most of the salary on their team (not all of it, Lindor and Pete Alonso still have large contracts). They also pieced together a starting rotation. Last year they had two former Hall of Famers in the rotation to start the season. This season, their rotation is Jose Quintana, Tylor Megill, Sean Manaea, Jose Butto, and today's starter, Luis Severino. None of these guys are likely to make it to the Hall of Fame, and none of them would be considered and Ace on any other team. However, they are good, reliable starters, and maybe that's all you really need to get through a season. Then in the playoffs, anything can happen. Severino has put together a nice campaign going 7-3 with a 3.58 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. He is coming off of one of his best starts of the season, going six innings and allowing just two hits to the Marlins. He has nine quality starts this season. He hasn't been perfect this season, there were five starts this year where he has allowed at least four earned runs - so when he is bad, he is really bad. Severino hasn't pitched against the Braves this season but has held them to 14 hits in 54 at-bats. However, half of those hits have gone for extra-bases.

It should be interesting to see how the Mets do today as Sale has been a better pitcher than past years. Lindor probably faced him the most when they were both living in the American League Central, and that was the height of Sale's success. My assumption would be that Lindor still should put together a good game, but the way Sale is throwing. I'll back the Braves to take this opener behind Sale.