Braves vs Marlins Series: Braves Already Clinched NL East!
Atlanta Fighting For Best NL Record - Playoff Seeding
The Atlanta Braves already clinched the NL East. But they’ll still play hard for the next couple of weeks to try and earn the best record in the National League for seeding purposes in the playoffs.
Atlanta will take on the Miami Marlins over the weekend. The Marlins are still in a competitive race for one of three NL Wild Card spots. The Marlins are competing against the Phillies, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Reds, and Giants for three spots in the NL Wild Card.
Only three of those six MLB teams will make it into the playoffs.
Therefore, every game means more for the Marlins moving forward. Can Miami catch the Braves slacking over the weekend?
Here’s our Braves vs Marlins Series for the NL East matchup over the weekend.
Atlanta Braves vs Miami Marlins 
Day/Time:
Location: loanDepot Park
The Braves Won Their 6th Straight NL East Title
It was only September 13, but the Atlanta Braves celebrated a 4-1 victory over the Phillies on Wednesday night.
The Braves already won the NL East, winning the title for the sixth straight season.
The rest of the Atlanta Braves baseball schedule includes three games against the Marlins, three more against the Phillies, four against the Nationals, three against the Cubs, and three final games against the Nationals.
The Braves are the top NL division leader. Therefore, if the playoffs began today, the Braves would earn a first-round bye and then face the 4-5 Wild Card matchup winner. That series would be a five-game series that would start on October 7.
Atlanta has now won an MLB-best 23 divisional titles. This is also their second earliest clinch date. The 2002 team earned the NL East on September 9, and the 1995 club clinched the division on September 13.
Atlanta has earned MVP-caliber seasons from Ronald Acuna and Matt Olson. Meanwhile, the Braves got a breakout season from Bryce Elder. This team leads the league in batting average and home runs and just got back Kyle Wright to get some starts in before the playoffs begin.
Finally, Spencer Strider is in consideration to win the NL Cy Young. He’s set records in the strikeout category this season.
Ultimately, Atlanta is on pace for over 300 home runs. They’ve also got four players who have hit at least 35 home runs this season. They’re now the second team to have five players hit at least 30 home runs, thanks to Ozzie Albies joining the 30-home run club.
If you’re counting, the Braves are 62-26 dating back to June 3. They’re deserving of everything.
Sixto Sanchez Is Making His Way Back!
If you recognize the name Sixto Sanchez but can’t figure out why, it’s because Sanchez hasn’t pitched for the Marlins since 2020.
He’s a right-handed pitcher who made his rookie debut in 2020. He had an ERA of 3.46 in seven games and pitched a 4.50 ERA in two postseason starts for the Marlins.
But he’s been hurt ever since.
Sanchez had a promising career after a solid rookie season during the pandemic-shortened season.
He was first traded from the Phillies to the Marlins in a deal that brought J.T. Realmuto to Philadelphia from Miami. He was a top prospect for the Marlins and was considered a star in the making.
Sanchez pitched in three spring training games in 2021 but had shoulder discomfort. Since that moment, he had two surgeries on his shoulder. One came in 2021, and the other was in 2022.
This season, Sanchez came to spring training in better shape. He lost 45 lbs and threw some bullpens. But in late April and early May, he had more shoulder soreness that sidelined him again this season.
Finally, on Tuesday, Sanchez took the mound in a professional game. He pitched out of the bullpen in a Double-A game, throwing one scoreless inning despite allowing two runners on base.
Marlins general manager acknowledged that Sanchez was still a significant part of the long-term plans for the Marlins. He won’t pitch for the major league club this year, even if the Marlins make the playoffs. But seeing he’s back on the mound and still chasing his dream is good. After all, he’s still only 25 years old.
Below, we’ll give our Braves vs Marlins series thoughts and talk about the probable starters for each game of the three-game series.
Early Odds: RL Atlanta -1.5 (-120), ML Atlanta -200, O/U 9 -120/+100
âš¾ Game 1 âš¾
Bryce Elder vs Johnny Cueto
Bryce Elder will begin the three-game series for the Braves. Elder is a right-handed pitcher who has held his last 120 batters to a .112 ISO and wOBA of .257. He’s never had a high strikeout rate, but he’s still earned 42.4% of ground balls and has allowed under 25% of fly balls over the last 30 days. Elder has also thrown nearly 94 pitches per start in the previous month.
Elder will face Johnny Cueto of the Marlins. Cueto has allowed a .327 ISO and wOBA of .442 to his last 63 batters. He’s also allowed a .270 ISO and wOBA of .360 to 168 batters this season.
Cueto has struggled poorly and will face the most brutal lineup in baseball.
Atlanta’s lineup has multiple hitters who are destroying right-handed pitching. Ronald Acuna, Matt Olson, Marcell Ozuna, and Michael Harris II have all put up excellent numbers against righties in the last 30 days. The projected lineup also has struck out just 19.3% of the time against righties.
Meanwhile, Miami’s lineup has a few batters that have hit well recently. It’s unclear if Jazz Chisholm Jr. will be active for this series. However, Jake Burger, Chisholm, Jesus Sanchez, and Garrett Hampson are potent bats to look out for against Elder.
The Miami lineup isn’t bad. However, Cueto is. Our MLB score predictions have the Braves earning a multiple-run victory against the Marlins. The Braves are -200 on the moneyline. The total is also 9, with the over juiced up to -120. We agree with the Over but believe even more in the Braves on the run line, -1.5 (-120).
âš¾ Game 2 âš¾
Darius Vines vs Edward Cabrera
In the second game of the Braves vs Marlins series, Darius Vines will likely get the start. He’s only thrown against 44 batters in the MLB this season. But he’s limited walks to 4.5% and has allowed those batters a .150 ISO and wOBA of .263.
On top of that, he’s been able to keep his line drive rate below 19% over the last 30 days.
Vines won’t go deep in this game. But he could be stretched out to five innings. The Braves could also ease Kyle Wright in and let him pitch the bulk of this game.
Vines will take on Edward Cabrera of the Marlins. Cabrera was on the injured list for a while in the second half of the season. But he’s returned and has faced 36 batters since.
Cabrera has held teams to a .107 ISO and wOBA of .236. However, his walk rate is at 22.2%. That rate will improve over time. However, Cabrera has struggled with walks throughout the season. He’s either earning strikeouts or walking batters. There’s typically no in-between.
Still, don’t expect Cabrera to last long in this game, either. He’s averaged 79 pitches per start since returning. Therefore, the Over is likely the play in this game.
âš¾ Game 3 âš¾
Day/Time:
Location: Charlie Morton vs Jesus Luzardo
In the finale, Charlie Morton will take the hill for the Braves. Morton has struck out 34.5% of batters over the last month. He’s had success against righties and lefties with that strikeout rate. The right-hander has also held teams to a .067 ISO and wOBA of .263 over the last 30 days.
If he continues to pitch like this, the Braves will be lethal, considering he’s not even the first or second starter in the Braves rotation.
On the other hand, Jesus Luzardo will get the ball for the Marlins. He’s a lefty who has improved over the last month. He’s only allowed a .186 ISO and wOBA of .330 while striking out nearly 26% of batters. His strikeout rate has been higher this season. But he’s limited teams to just 34.2% of hard contact. He’s also been worse against lefties, but the Braves will likely only play Matt Olson and Michael Harris II against Luzardo.
Still, Atlanta’s projected lineup has slugged a .255 ISO and wOBA of .409 against lefties over the last 30 days. This lineup has also struck out under 17% of the time against lefties. Only Matt Olson and Ozzie Albies have struggled against lefties in that time. The rest of the lineup has a wOBA of .362 or better in the last month against lefties.
Therefore, the Braves will likely still earn enough runs to win this game with Morton on the mound. As long as Atlanta plays their starters, we’ll bet them three times with our baseball picks this weekend.
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