Yonny’s Debut

New acquisition Yonny Chirinos is all set to make his first appearance in an Atlanta uniform, after being waived by the club that originally signed him as a teenager, Tampa Bay. He’s a sinker-slider guy who has generally been an above-average major leaguer but who has lost velocity this year; the Braves are hoping he can eat innings and just not get bombed. But if he doesn’t and his Atlanta tenure is short-lived, he won’t have been an expensive mistake. Expectations for him are not high.

Houser, Again

He’ll square off against Adrian Houser, who baffled the Braves just a week ago. It’s unlikely that they’ll be quite as mystified this time around, as he doesn’t generally have dominating stuff and they should be a lot more familiar with his approach.

Upcoming Schedule

The Braves are now back home for a week, and they’ll be plenty well-rested, with off-days on Monday and Thursday of this past week and off-days on Monday and Thursday next week, too.

The next two clubs are trade deadline buyers, the Brewers (who just got Carlos Santana from the Pirates) and Angels (who just got Lucas Giolito from the White Sox). The Brewers currently occupy first place in a weak division, but their position is hardly secure, as they face a challenge from the team the Braves will face next weekend, the Cubs, who haven’t figured out yet whether they want to buy or sell at the deadline.

The Angels finally decided they’re going all-in in Ohtani’s last year on the club. So the Braves will be facing motivated opponents. Hopefully that will bring out the best in them.

Key to the Game: Outscore the Other Team

Not much else to say about these Brewers since we just saw them so recently. Sal Frelick’s cooled off since his red-hot debut: he’s only hitting .417 now, and if he’s not careful he could end the year batting under .400.

We know who they are and we know what they got. Let’s go beat ’em.