Braves prepare for slugfest with reigning World Series champs at Truist Park

The Atlanta Braves return home after an impressive 5-1 road trip against the Marlins and Astros. It was great to see the offense continuing to slug their way to wins. This offensive attack led by Marcell Ozuna who is on a 16-game hit streak.

Pitching provided some surprises as Darius Vines had a great spot start in lieu of Spencer Strider. The Astros series gave Atlanta their first sweep of the season and it felt like a playoff series the entire time. Both teams seem to enjoy playing against one another.

The team, unfortunately, lost Ozzie Albies after he was hit in the foot with a pitch. Albies is now on the 10-day IL with a broken right big toe. Fortunately, Atlanta has great depth built up for this exact reason. Luis Guillorme and David Fletcher will man the second base position until he can return.

The Braves also promoted Luke Williams from Triple-A Gwinnett ahead of the Rangers series, sending Forrest Wall down as a corresponding move. He will give the team more infield depth. Williams has played in the outfield before and is a speedy baserunner.

Texas won the World Series in 2023 and competed with the Braves for the best offense in baseball. They scored the most runs in the AL with 881 scored in 2023 versus the Braves who scored 947 runs for the most in the NL.

The Rangers made it to the World Series and took down the Arizona Diamondbacks with relative ease while the Braves lost to their rival from Philadelphia in the NLDS. Could this be a potential World Series matchup for 2024? It's certainly possible.

Atlanta is currently 12-5 with the best record in the National League. Texas is 11-9 and in first place in the AL West. They carry the third-best record in the American League behind the Yankees and Guardians.

The Braves come in with the best offense in all of baseball. They lead Major League Baseball in team average, slugging, on-base, OPS, and doubles. Texas is in the top five of the American League in those respective categories and has the second-best team average (.262). The Rangers have a slight edge in the pitching department as their team ERA is 3.97 versus the Braves team ERA of 4.41.

This should end up being an exciting series between two of baseball's best teams. Check out probable pitchers and start times for all three games below.

Probable pitchers and start times for Braves vs. Rangers

Game 1: Andrew Heaney (0-2, 6.75 ERA) vs. Chris Sale (1-1, 4.58 ERA), 7:20 p.m. EST, Apple TV+

Game 2: Nathan Eovaldi (1-1, 2.92 ERA) vs. Charlie Morton (1-0, 5.29 ERA), 7:20 p.m. EST, BSSO, MLB Network

Game 3: Michael Lorenzen (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Darius Vines (0-0, 1.93 ERA), 7:10 p.m. EST, ESPN

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