Braves vs Pirates Preview: Atlanta Aims To Get Back on Track in Pittsburgh

The Braves Have Chance At Four-Game Sweep

August 7, 2023 97 5 minutes readMLB Picks & Parlays

Braves vs Pirates Preview: Atlanta Aims To Get Back on Track in Pittsburgh — Quinn Harris/Getty Images/AFP

Is This The Best Braves Team of All-Time?
Are The Pirates Inept?

The Atlanta Braves will head into their next series against Pittsburgh Pirates, tied for the most wins in the MLB season.

The Braves lead the National League with 70 wins, tied with the Orioles, who lead with 70 wins in the American League side.

The Braves lost the weekend series to the Cubs after two straight losses on Saturday and Sunday. Meanwhile, the Pirates are 6-4 in their last ten games. However, at 50-61, the Pirates are not contenders for a playoff spot. They sold off at the MLB Trade Deadline and are building for the future.

Can Atlanta get back in the win column against the Pirates?

Let’s look at the Braves vs Pirates preview for the National League series.

Is This The Best Braves Team of All-Time?

Over the weekend, Fox Sports wrote an article about the Braves having the franchise’s best team.

Fox analyst, Ben Verlander, acknowledged the 90’s with Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, and Greg Maddux. He talked about how that 1998 MLB team won 106 games but didn’t even win the pennant.

This year’s team has many all-stars and studs, including Ronald Acuna Jr., who is in the race to win the NL MVP this season. Acuna has already reached 25 home runs and over 50 stolen bases, with a little under a third of the season to play.

Atlanta also has Matt Olson, who leads the National League in Home Runs. Plus, the Braves have Spencer Strider, the fastest pitcher ever to reach 200 strikeouts in a season. He held the record last year in his rookie season.

The Braves also figure to earn first place in many MLB team stats this season.

Still, Verlander’s assessment is a little overzealous. But if the Braves win the World Series, this could be the best team ever to play in Atlanta.

Are The Pirates Inept?

The last time the Pirates were in the playoffs was in 2015.

The last time the Pirates had a winning record was in 2018. But in 2018, the Pirates didn’t even make the playoffs, despite going 83-79.

The extra wild card slot will help MLB teams earn playoff spots. But the Pirates always seem to make the wrong decisions in the front office.

Pittsburgh could’ve had a rotation of Gerrit Cole, Tyler Glasnow, Joe Musgrove, Charlie Morton, and Jameson Taillon. I know Taillon hasn’t had the best season this year. But he would’ve been their fifth pitcher. The Pirates chose not to pay their guys and let them go elsewhere.

Hopefully first overall pick, Paul Skenes stays with the Pirates as they rebuild to contender status.

Game 1

Spencer Strider vs. Osvaldo Bido
Monday, 7:05 p.m. ET

The Atlanta Braves will face three righties to begin their four-game road series in Pittsburgh. The Braves are crushing right-handed pitching, with almost everyone in the lineup, but hitting an above-average ISO and wOBA against righties.

They’ll face Osvaldo Bido, who has been awful against lefties over the last month. Bido has given up a .154 ISO and wOBA of .413 to his previous 30 lefties. He’s also thrown just 47.5 pitches per start throughout the month. Bido won’t last long, and he’ll have trouble against Matt Olson and Ozzie Albies, along with the other lefties in the Atlanta lineup.

Meanwhile, Spencer Strider will get the start for the Braves. Strider has struck out 41.7% of batters over the last month and has walked under 4%. He’s also allowed a .299 wOBA in the previous 30 days and is currently in the running for the NL Cy Young award.

There are a few consistent hitters in the Pittsburgh lineup. Alfonso Rivas, Henry Davis, and Josh Palacios have looked great over the last month against righties. But the offense has also struck out at a very high rate against righties. Those numbers don’t matter if the Pirates can’t hit Strider.

That’s why the Braves are -280 against the Pirates on the road in Game 1 of the series. The Pirates can be bought at +230 odds. The total for the first game of the Braves vs Pirates preview is 8.5, with the over juiced -115/-105.

Game 2

Yonny Chirinos vs. Mitch Keller
Tuesday, 7:05 p.m. ET

Yonny Chirinos came to Atlanta from Tampa Bay a couple of weeks ago. He’s thrown 8.2 innings and has allowed seven earned runs in those innings. However, he went a full five innings for the Braves in his last start against the Angels and struck out five. That was one of his best performances of the season. He’s improving steadily with Atlanta.

While Chirinos is improving, Mitch Keller has taken a step back for the Pirates. Keller was near the top in many MLB player stats in the first half of the season. However, the second half has treated him poorly. In the last month, Keller has allowed a .384 ISO and wOBA of .480 to his previous 84 lefties. Again, those Braves’ left-handed bats should have a field day.

Game 3

Max Fried vs. Quinn Priester
Wednesday, 7:05 p.m. ET

Atlanta’s got Max Fried back. The ace left-hander threw his first start since May 5 against the Cubs and threw a quality start. Fried is incredibly good at earning quality starts. He threw those six innings and added eight strikeouts and no walks. He’s a massive addition to Atlanta’s run into the postseason.

Fried will take on a young rookie in Quinn Priester. Priester has been rocked, allowing a .295 ISO and wOBA of .406 against 94 batters this year. Priester typically walks plenty of batters and has only struck out 17%. Atlanta’s offense should keep rolling in this series per our Braves vs Pirates Odds.

Game 4

Bryce Elder vs. Bailey Falter
Thursday, 12:35 p.m. ET

Finally, Bryce Elder will pitch in the finale. Elder has allowed a .230 ISO and wOBA of .360 against his last 84 batters. He’s the one pitcher in Atlanta’s rotation who is struggling slightly. Still, Edler has earned 48.5% of grounders and has only walked 8.3% of batters in the last month.

Meanwhile, the Braves will take on their first lefty in the series. It’s a familiar lefty in Bailey Falter. Falter came over from the Phillies and has allowed a .360 wOBA to 174 batters this season.

Falter has never had much success earning strikeouts, but he’ll get a new star with the Pirates in Game 4. I wouldn’t count on him against all-star pitcher Bryce Elder, though.