The opening homestand of the 2023 season continues tonight at Truist Park. The rebuilding Reds are coming to town and the Braves will look to get back on track after a long, brutal weekend against San Diego. Cincinnati has some fiery young pitching set up to go this week but the Braves love a good fastball. Hopefully we can find the win column again and potentially sweep another NL central squad. It all starts tonight. Here is how the Braves will line up for game one of this three game set.

Bryce Elder gets the nod in game one and he will be going head to head with 24 year old right hander Graham Ashcraft. Graham is coming off of a win against the Pirates in week one where he struck out six batters over seven innings of work. He did give up a long ball though and we know that this Braves team is capable of producing a big blow or two. I expect them to be fastball hunting tonight. Elder is seeking his second win of the season after shutting out the cardinals in his debut last week. This Reds lineup is not nearly as deep as the Friars so hopefully Bryce can settle in and continue to throw strikes.

The big three remain in order at the top of the lineup but things look a little different tonight going down the line. Sean Murphy will be in the cleanup spot and behind the plate. We should finally get a consistent look at what Sean Murphy is capable of after Travis d’Arnaud was placed on the 7-day concussion IL Sunday morning. Believe it or not, Sean currently has the fourth highest OBP on the team (.393, just behind Ronald Acuna Jr’s .396.)

Ozzie Albies has been bumped down to fifth. Eddie Rosario is in the six hole. This is the part of the lineup that we need to get going. Eddie and Ozzie went a combined 3-30 in the San Diego series. They have been abysmal. Eddie currently has a 5 OPS+. Yes, five. Ozzie isn’t fairing much better with a 48. This tandem looks completely lost at the plate. Hopefully a week of some lower octane matchups will allow them to settle in.

Orlando Arcia will bat seventh. I like this a lot. Kevin Pillar gets the start in left and occupies the eighth spot. I would liked to have seen another full game of at bats from Sam Hilliard, especially with a righty on the mound for the Reds. Eli White will make his first start with his new club as he is batting ninth and starting in center field. White has raked at Triple-A to start the season. He’s got three homeruns, five RBI and a 1.115 OPS with through 20 plate appearances with the Stripers. Let’s hope some the power comes with him to the big leagues. Marcell Ozuna will ride the pine in the series opener and maybe longer with the way he’s been playing.

This series should be more enjoyable than the last to say the least. The Reds are sitting at .500 and will showcase a couple of nice young arms in ATL but I like our chances. If we can score early and get into this bullpen, I think we can easily get out of town with another series win under our belt. Hell we might even break out the brooms.

First pitch is at 7:20 ET and can be seen on Bally Sports Southeast.