The Silver Lining
Projecting starting pitchers at this time of the year is always a difficult proposition, but we’re going to do that anyway for this exercise.
If the rotation were to remain entirely and exactly intact between now and the end of the season, the Braves would be lined up to throw Spencer Strider, Charlie Morton, and Jake Odorizzi at the Mets beginning on September 30th.
Not counting yesterday, the Braves do have several off-days remaining (5 of them), but there’s a big run of games in a row that goes from September 17-28, ending just prior to the Mets series.
So if there’s a chance to bring in another starter to get the rotation set up for the Mets, it would be done during those dates… and probably during both of the times Atlanta plays Washington (Sept. 19-21 and again on Sept. 26-28).
Then there’s the question about which pitchers Atlanta should use against the Mets. None of them have been especially outstanding this year against New York, but with that said, nearly all of them have been better when pitching in Atlanta rather than in New York.
Max Fried has been the best, giving up exactly 2 earned runs in every one of 4 outings. Spencer Strider had that one bad outing in New York, but turned it completely around in his most recent meeting back home.
Kyle Wright did not fare well in New York at all (9 ER over 13 innings, but hasn’t faced them at home), and Charlie Morton has been hit-and-miss against them (4 runs, 0 runs, 5 runs).
So how would this work, exactly?