The Atlanta Braves are facing the Cincinnati Reds in the 2025 MLB Speedway Classic at Bristol Motor Speedway as the featured matchup on Saturday’s slate.
Spencer Strider is scheduled to pitch for Atlanta, while Chase Burns will take the mound for Cincinnati.
Braves vs. Reds prediction, preview
Spencer Strider is still working to regain his pre-injury form. Strider finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year race in 2022, then finished fourth in the NL Cy Young race in 2023. He pitched just two games in 2024 before missing the rest of the season after having a procedure on his UCL. In 2025, he has not been a shutdown pitcher like he was before the injury, but he is finding a bit of a groove. He has a 3.07 ERA in his past ten starts and put forth some great performances. His strikeout numbers are still great, downing 10.7 batters per nine innings on strikes, the ninth-best mark in the MLB among qualified pitchers.
Chase Burns is the starting pitcher for the Reds in this big game. This will be a huge opportunity for the rookie right-hander, who is making just his seventh career start. Burns has struggled at times with a 6.26 ERA on the season. However, his strikeout numbers are off the charts, striking out 14.8 batters per nine innings. That would be by far the best mark in baseball if he sustained it over a full season. If you eliminate one blow-up start in which he didn’t survive the first inning, Burns’ other numbers look a bit better. In his five other starts, he has a 4.66 ERA and has made it at least five innings in four of those five. He has tallied ten strikeouts in each of his past three starts, and at the very least should put on a good show for this Bristol crowd.
Braves vs. Reds pick, best bet
The MLB Speedway Classic should be a great spectacle for baseball fans. The game is being held at the famous Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee. The site is most known for hosting NASCAR races, but tonight it should be home to a historic baseball game. The MLB expects an attendance of over 85,000 people, which would make it the highest-attended MLB regular season game ever. The MLB found great success with its Field of Dreams games in 2021 and 2022, and is now hoping to find the same success with the Speedway Classic.
Both starting pitchers should put on a good show in this game. The Braves have a definite advantage with Spencer Strider, but these are two of the best strikeout pitchers in baseball. As part of my best bet, I have both pitchers registering at least seven strikeouts. Burns has hit this number in all of his career starts except the one in which he didn’t make it out of the first inning. Meanwhile, Strider has hit this number in six of his past nine and three of his past four starts. The Braves and Reds’ lineups are both in the top 10 in the MLB in strikeouts this season, so both pitchers should hit that mark again.
The other legs of my best bet parlay are for the game to go over eight runs and for Elly De La Cruz to record two or more total bases. The Reds rank ninth in the MLB in strikeouts, but they also rank ninth in runs scored. They have some exciting power bats led by Elly De La Cruz, an All-Star who has been one of the best hitters in baseball against righties this season. He is batting .302 with a .931 OPS against righties this season and should jump on Strider to record an extra-base hit.
On the other side, the Braves should score some runs as well. Burns has been awesome with his strikeout numbers, but he has allowed eight earned runs over his past two starts. Atlanta has struggled at the plate this season, but their lineup should put some runs up against Burns. Once it gets to the relievers, the Reds rank 15th and the Braves rank 21st in bullpen ERA this season. The runs should keep coming for both teams once the bullpens come into play. In this unique environment, there should be fireworks from the most exciting players on the field, giving this same-game parlay a real shot.
