Atlanta’s Lineup Is Boring Without Ronald Acuna
Braves vs Nationals Prediction: Weak Lineups Will Help The Under
The Atlanta Braves already lost Game 1 of the four-game series against the Washington Nationals yesterday.
Atlanta’s pitching staff allowed eight runs and 15 hits in yesterday’s loss. So, now the Braves are only nine games above .500.
Meanwhile, the Nationals added their 24th win of the season. They’re still competing for an NL Wild Card spot but will have trouble winning the NL East. That’ll be a competition between the Braves and Phillies. However, if the Nationals earn a four-game sweep on the road against Atlanta, our opinion would absolutely change.
That said, in Game 2, the Braves are currently -235 on the moneyline, with the total at 8.5. The total is currently juiced to -120 and more probable than the Over. The sportsbooks don’t think the Braves will get swept. Instead, they believe the Braves have a high chance of winning tonight’s game.
Check out our Braves vs Nationals prediction for tonight’s Game 2 of the four-game series in Atlanta.
Washington Nationals vs Atlanta Braves 
Day/Time:
Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA
Streaming: Bally Sports South, MASN 2
Welcome Back, Lane Thomas
The Nationals spent the last month without Lane Thomas due to an MCL sprain. But he was reinstated from the injured list on Monday and even added a double in his first at-bat since returning.
Thomas was only batting .184 with two home runs in 22 games this season. But he had some real success last season and can potentially be a reliable bat for the Nationals this year.
As a result, Washington designated Victor Robles for assignment. He was hitting just .120 in 14 games this season.
Ronald Acuna Apologized To Fans
After it was announced that Ronald Acuna Jr. tore his ACL for the second time in four years, he took to social media and expressed his regret for his injury.
Acuna won the NL MVP last season. Therefore, his loss is devastating to the Braves.
Considering the playoffs, the Braves will likely trade for a replacement by the deadline. But for now, the rest of the lineup must step up in his absence. The Braves score repeatedly won’t be very high until those moves are made.
The last time the Braves lost Acuna Jr. to an ACL injury, Atlanta made some incredible trades at the Trade Deadline and became World Series winners.
Braves vs Nationals Prediction & Odds For Game 1:
RL: Braves -1.5 (-115) ML: Braves -235, O/U 8.5 +100/-120
âš¾ Game 1 âš¾
Tuesday, 7:20 pm ET
Jake Irvin vs. Max Fried
In Game 2 of the four-game series, Jake Irvin will get the call for the Nationals. He’s a righty who is 2-5, but he’s got a 3.79 ERA on the season.
Irvin won’t add a high amount of strikeouts. But he’s held opponents to just 3.5% of walks this year. That’s allowed him to hold runners to a .294 wOBA on the season.
However, while he’s dominant against righties as a right-handed hitter, lefties have succeeded against Irvin. After all, Irvin has allowed a .190 ISO and wOBA of .340 to 125 lefties this year. In addition, Irvin has given up 34.4% of fly balls and has only induced 34.4% of ground balls against lefties this year.
Beyond that, Irvin has also given up 54.8% of hard contact.
In the Atlanta lineup, he’ll face Ozzie Albies, Matt Olson, and Michael Harris, all left-handed hitters. Harris and Albies haven’t hit for much power, but Olson has. He’s hit an above-average ISO of .172 with a wOBA of .318.
Overall, the Braves’ projected lineup looks thinner and weaker without Acuna Jr. in it. The offense will have just three or four hitters with above-average numbers against righties.
Max Fried’s Next Start
Max Fried will get the call for the Braves. Fried is a left-handed pitcher with a 3.38 ERA on the season. If you recall, Freid struggled to begin the season. But he’s since turned things around. The Atlanta ace has only added 20.4% of strikeouts this season. Yet, he’s still held teams to a .070 ISO and wOBA of .249.
Furthermore, he’s earned 64.8% of ground balls and has only allowed 12.1% of fly balls and 17.6% of line drives throughout the year.
This is practically what Fried did last season. He just added more strikeouts. Eventually, that’ll come. He’s still limiting teams from hitting a high hard contact rate and has only allowed a 4.8% barrel percentage. Therefore, you can trust Fried even with his low strikeout numbers.He’ll also be in line to face a Washington lineup with just about three or four batters with above-average numbers against lefties.
That includes righties like CJ Abrams and Nick Senzel, who have been terrific against other lefties. The third righty with good numbers would be Lane Thomas, but he hasn’t played in over a month, so we don’t have a big sample size for him.
We are backing Under 8.5 at -120. Both offenses might’ve had big days yesterday, but the analytics and numbers don’t support many runs in tonight’s game. The Under is officially one of our MLB best bets today.
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