The Atlanta Braves are visiting The ‘Land to face the Guardians this weekend in a fun interleague matchup for Players’ Weekend. Both teams come into the matchup trending up over their last 10 games, and both will have young starting pitchers taking the mound in the series opener. The Braves will go with 23-year-old righty Hurston Waldrep in his second start of the season, while the Guardians will give the ball to 25-year-old lefty Joey Cantillo. Both starters have shown good upside, so let’s take a look at what to expect in this clash on Friday.
The Braves are well out of the playoff race after multiple critical injuries throughout the season. They are 53-68 coming into this weekend and are 11 games out of the Wild Card. They do get some good news, though, since Ronald Acuna Jr. (calf) was activated from the injured list and will likely be back in the lineup.
The Guardians will try to shut down Acuna and the Braves as they continue to chase their own postseason aspirations. They begin the weekend series just 0.5 games back of the Yankees for the third and final AL Wild Card spot and have been surging into the race with seven wins in their last nine games.
The Guardians are very slight -113 home favorites in what is basically a pick ’em game. The run total is 8.5. The weather looks nice and warm with a gametime temp of 82 degrees with a very slight breeze blowing in. With no precipitation in the forecast, it’s a relatively neutral environment. Let’s preview this Friday night matchup with the help of some odds and lines on the DraftKings Sportsbook.
Braves vs. Guardians prediction, preview
The Braves should get a boost from getting Acuna back at the top of the order after he missed two weeks with a calf strain. Acuna missed a large portion of the season recovering from his major knee injury last season, but when he’s available, he has been very productive. In his 55 games, he’s hitting .306 with 14 homers, four stolen bases, a .427 wOBA, and a 53.0% hard-hit rate. His 178 wRC+ would be a new career best if he can sustain that elite production the rest of the year.
He’ll come back against Cantillo, and he only hit .250 against lefties, compared to .322 against righties. Cantillo will also be a tougher matchup for the red-hot Michael Harris II, who has caught fire since the All-Star break after a brutal start. Harris has at least two hits in six straight games, going 13-for-25 (.520) with three doubles, three homers, and two stolen bases over those six contests. Harris has hit .381 since the All-Star break with seven doubles, three triples, seven homers, a .465 wOBA, and a 53.4% hard-hit rate.
While the Guardians don’t have any single hitter who is quite that scalding, they do have All-Star Jose Ramirez, who had three hits and scored three runs with two stolen bases on Thursday to help the Guardians win their series against the Marlins. He’s hitting .321 (18-for-56) over his last 14 games with three doubles, four homers and a .402 wOBA. He is the heart of the offense and one of the underappreciated stars of the league.
He and the Guardians will be going up against Waldrep, who only went 7-8 with a 4.42 ERA in Triple-A but looked very strong in his two major league appearances. The first-round pick caught fire with Gwinnett, posting a 1.99 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 36 strikeouts in his last 40 2/3 innings before his promotion.
He came up and took over in the continuation of the Speedway Classic and threw 5 2/3 innings against the Reds, giving up just three hits. He made his first official start last Saturday as part of a doubleheader and threw six strong innings against the Marlins, giving up one run on four hits while picking up six strikeouts. Waldrep is 2-0 in those two games and should get an extended audition the rest of the season.
On the other side, Cantillo is also pitching for his role going forward. He worked out of the bullpen early in the season but has started his last seven appearances. Over that span, he has a 4.36 ERA and 3.56 FIP, while picking up an impressive 39 strikeouts in 33 innings. He was especially sharp in his last outing against the White Sox, going 5 2/3 innings and allowing one run on just four hits.
Both young pitchers have been throwing the ball well, lately, and it should be an up-tempo, low-scoring game as a result.
Braves vs. Guardians pick, best bet
Best Bet: Braves Moneyline (-108)
The Braves getting Acuna back and having Waldren on the mound make them the pick here for me. Getting them at just about even money makes them a good option to get the win on the road. Cantillo has been good but not as consistent, and the Braves showed good resilience in their back-to-back wins over the Mets in the last two days.
Strong Lean: Michael Harris 3+ Hits + Runs + RBI (+180)
Harris has 40 hits, 18 runs, and 16 RBI for a total of 74 HRR (hits + runs + RBI) over his 26 games since the All-Star break. That’s an average of 2.8 HRR, and he has gotten at least three HRR in four straight games and five of his last six. Three HRR can be done in one at-bat or even one swing if he hits a homer, but there are lots of paths to this long-shot hitting. The odds are a little longer against the lefty, but Harris is hot enough to play even in the less-than-perfect matchup.
