The Atlanta Braves are set to send Hurston Waldrep to the mound for his major league debut on Sunday to take on the Nationals. Waldrep was the Braves' first round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft and he has since rocketed through the minor leagues to make it to the big league is less than a calendar year.
UPDATE: The Nationals announced that Sunday's game will now begin at 2:10 p.m. EST.
— Nationals Park (@NationalsPark) June 9, 2024
It was a rather short delay and ther rain seemed to be very little. Luckily, Braves fans won't have to wait too much longer to see Waldrep step on a major league mound for the first time.
Unfortunately, Mother Natures (or at least the Nationals' overly cautious interpretation of signs from Mother Nature) has other plans and we are officially in a rain delay of a questionable nature.
The start of today’s game has been delayed due to rain in the area. I’m actually serious this time. About the delay. The rain? I’m not so sure. pic.twitter.com/gcD54iQ0Jf
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) June 9, 2024
Braves News: Braves vs. Nationals Rain Delay: Updates, start time
Obviously Bowman is referencing an infamous rain delay back in 2017 where a Braves-Nationals matchup was delayed three hours for what amounted to a slow moving drizzle. Given what Bowman is looking at right now, one wonders if fans could be in store for something similar on Sunday afternoon.
However, this rain delay does at least have a bit more merit than that 2017 rain delay as the forecast showing a storn chance of rain in the area around the original start time of the game. However, it doesn't SEEM like the rain is supposed to hang around for too long, so fans can expect this game to actually happen with a delay that SHOULDN'T be too back if the various weather forecasters are remotely decent at their jobs.
That is great because Braves fans are very excited to see Waldrep make his MLB debut and take on the Nationals who are sending DJ Herz to the hill. Herz only has one start in the big leagues and it didn't go particularly well as the lefty gave up four runs in four innings of work, so hopefully this will provide the offense some opportunities to break out of their prolonged slump and give Waldrep some breathing room.
This post will be updated to pass along any information regarding when the game is expected to start as those details are made available.