It’s hard to believe, but today marks the final home game of the regular season for the Atlanta Braves. Where does the time go?
For Atlanta, it will be trade deadline acquisition extraordinaire Tyler Mahle who makes his final tune up start of the season before (presumably) pitching game two of the National League Wild Card Round next week.
Mahle has been incredible since the trade in early August, making eight starts with a 1.28 ERA, 2.85 FIP and 3.27 xFIP. He’s done a tremendous job of keeping the ball in and around the strike zone with 44 strikeouts and just seven walks over 49 innings, and he’s limited hard contact with just four batters hitting a baseball over the fence since joining the Braves. Mahle’s run of excellence extends to even before the trade; since returning from an injury on June 24, the veteran righty owns a 2.37 ERA, 3.19 FIP and 3.60 xFIP over 15 starts. As a pending free agent, Mahle has made himself some serious money over the past three months. We’ll see if his future involves Atlanta.
The Reds will counter with Brady Singer, who has had a dreadful season with Cincinnati. The 30-year-old righty has career-worst numbers across the board (or pretty close to it) with a 5.67 ERA, 5.55 FIP and 4.67 xFIP. His biggest issue is the home run ball, where he has surrendered an astounding 31 of them in 154 innings. We’ll see if the Braves bats, which have been pretty lifeless in the series so far, can get to Singer on Thursday night.
First pitch from Truist Park is set for 7:15 p.m. ET. In addition to all the usual places to watch and listen to the game, it will also be broadcast on Fox Sports 1.