The Atlanta Braves came into 2023 expecting to do great things but they've exceeded expectations as they carry the best record in baseball at 58-28. The offense is firing on all cylinders and the pitching has started to take shape as of late. This is the definition of a complete team.
However, they find themselves heading into one of their toughest series of 2023. They will face the AL's best team in the Tampa Bay Rays who are right behind Atlanta with a 57-33 record. The Rays were off to a crazy start as they went 13-0 as the 2023 season opened.
Similarly to Atlanta, Tampa's offense has been their driving force all season. Normally, Tampa is known for being able to develop great pitching talent and has a great rotation. Their starting rotation has a 3.59 ERA through 90 games played. However, one knock on them would be the Rays' bullpen which has been middle of the road all year with a collective 3.86 ERA which is 12th in all of baseball.
The Braves meanwhile have the third-best bullpen ERA in all of baseball (yes, I know that is hard to believe) with a 3.45 ERA. Only the Guardians and Yankees have a better bullpen ERA than the Braves. Considering how rough the Atlanta bullpen has looked at times this season. That's a win.
The bullpen has statistically been better than the starting staff which makes sense with injuries to Max Fried and Kyle Wright causing the Braves to find a way to fill two major rotation slots. The starting ERA is 3.74 on the year through 86 games versus the bullpen ERA of 3.45 through 310.1 innings of relief.
Safe to say that this series is going to be one that fans do not want to miss as there should be a lot of action to see between both teams. Let's check out the starters for game one between the Rays and the Braves.
Starters for Braves at Rays Game One
Charlie Morton will oppose Tyler Glasnow in game one of this series between these two incredible teams. Morton hasn't been mind-blowing for Atlanta in 2023 but he's been very good regardless with a 3.57 ERA through 16 starts.
He's had some issues with command and fooling hitters with his fastball. Walks have been an issue for Charlie this year. However, that curveball continues to be his bread and butter. It's the one pitch he's seemed to be able to go to when he needs outs. His 45.2% ground ball rate shows that to be the case. Morton will surely have his hands full with a talented Rays offense on Friday.
Atlanta's offense will take on the task of facing Tyler Glasnow. Glasnow is one of the best pitchers in baseball but his issue has been his health. He's always dealing with some sort of injury and hasn't thrown more than 88 innings in a season since 2018.
Similarly to Morton, Glasnow's curveball is his best pitch and it's highly effective at getting him swings and misses. He is prone to walking batters and allowing the long ball. Two things the Braves have been excellent at this year.
Glasnow racked up 11 strikeouts in his last outing against Seattle over 5.2 innings pitched. Atlanta has the sixth-fewest strikeouts in baseball with 698 of them on the season so they will challenge Glasnow in that area. Needless to say, this will be a fun match-up to watch all night.
Acuna and Ozuna carrying hitting streaks into Tampa
Marcell Ozuna is on a 15-game hit streak heading into Friday night's game in Tampa while Ronald Acuna Jr is going into the series with a 16-game hit streak.
Ozuna had a rough start to the season and it felt like it wouldn't be long before the Braves cut ties with him. However, Ozuna turned things around in a big way and is now a key part of this offense. Ozuna has a .257 average currently with 17 home runs, 40 runs batted in, and has walked 28 times.
In the last 15 games, Ozuna is slashing .307/.358/.532 with 19 hits including 4 HR and 10 RBI. His OPS is at .891 over that time as well. Ozuna currently ranks 26th in all of baseball when it comes to slugging percentage so he's clearly figured something out.
Ronald Acuna Jr is just impressive in every single way imaginable so far this season. He already has 41 steals on the year and is halfway to 40 homers with 21 of them before the All-Star break. It feels like a 40-40 season is already in the books at this point. The better question is: will he have 40+ homers and 60+ steals this year?
Acuna has been incredible over the 16-game hitting streak he's on. He is slashing .379/.468/.697 with a 1.165 OPS including 25 hits. 3 of those hits are doubles, 6 of them are home runs, he's driven in 9 runs and stolen 11 bases during that time frame as well.
You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone playing anywhere near the level Acuna has all year. He's taken the talent we already knew he possessed and turned it up to 11. Braves fans should count themselves lucky to be able to witness such greatness on a nightly basis.
This series is a treat for any baseball fan so don't miss out on any of the three games if you can help it. If you do, we will have you covered with recaps of each game. Spencer Strider takes the ball for game two and Bryce Elder for game three. It's going to be a fun weekend.
Where to watch Braves at Rays
Where and when: Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL at 6:40 PM EST
Watch: Apple TV+
Listen: 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan