Wednesday afternoon will be a fun end to the series between the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Angels and will decide the series winner. Both teams' starting pitchers are new acquistions that will be making their second apperance for their respective squad.
For the visiting Angels it will be former Chicago White Sox Lucas Giolito. Ahead of the deadline, Giolito's name floated around as a potential trade target for Alex Anthopoluos, making this matchup even more intruging.
In his last start with the halos, he surrendered 3 earned runs across 5.1 innings to the Toronto Blue Jays and was tagged with a loss.
The Braves will turn to Yonny Chirinos who was claimed off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays on July 23rd. Chirinos had a forgettable Braves debut against the Milwaukee Brewers. He could not escaped the 4th inning of the game and exited with the following line: 3.2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 K's. Chirinos will look for better fortunes against Shohei Ohtani and the Angels.
3 Things To Watch For
1. Shohei Ohtani
With interleague scheduling, it is not often that the Los Angeles Angels make their way across the country to Atlanta. Shohei Ohtani is one of the best players in the MLB (if not the best) and watching him play is a luxury.
Sit back and enjoy watching him make history. This is a player we will be talking about for a long time. Even if he is not on your side, you can appreciate his rare talent.
2. Yonny Chirinos
This outing could potentially determine Chirinos' role moving forward. Max Fried will likely rejoin the rotation at the end of this week. Kyle Wright is also working his way back from injury.
If Chirinos has another rough start, he could be moved to the bullpen. Brian Snitker will most certainly be weighing his options to make sure everything is in line for the Braves to keep improve their MLB best record.
3. Matt Olson
We briefly mentioned how good Shohei Ohtani has been this season. Ohtani leads all of baseball in homeruns but the Braves have the man who is right behind him in Matt Olson.
Lucas Giolito has faced Matt Olson 6 times in his career. Olson is 4 for 6 with 2 homers against the right hander. With the way Olson is swinging the bat right now, look for him to continue his sucess against Giolito.
Pitching Matchup
LAA: Lucas Giolito (6-7, 3.85 ERA) vs ATL: Yonny Chirinos (4-4, 4.34 ERA)
Game Info
Date: August 2nd, 2023
Time: 12:20 p.m. ET
Location: Truist Park (Atlanta, GA)
TV/Radio: BSSO/680 am The Fan