When rain postponed Friday night’s scheduled game against the Mets at Citi Field, the Braves opted to push each of their starting pitchers back one day. But it appears the Mets might stick with their plan to start Jacob deGrom in Sunday night’s series finale.
Braves manager Brian Snitker said Friday’s scheduled starter, Ian Anderson, will start Saturday and Max Fried will now be on the mound for ESPN’s Sunday night broadcast.
Whether Fried will be pitted against deGrom isn’t currently known. The Mets haven’t revealed whether deGrom, a two-time NL Cy Young Award winner, will stay on schedule or be pushed back to Monday.
By pushing each of their starters back a day, the Braves now have the option to recall Bryse Wilson to start Wednesday night’s game against the Nationals. Wilson was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett on May 23, so he would become eligible to return on Wednesday.
The Braves haven’t officially announced their rotation for the four-game series against the Nationals. But they could use Charlie Morton in Monday’s series opener and then hand the ball to Drew Smyly on Tuesday. Wilson seems like a good option for Wednesday, and Anderson would be on regular rest for Thursday’s series finale.
Replacing Ozuna
When the Braves recalled Johan Camargo and officially placed Marcell Ozuna on the 10-day injured list with two fractured fingers on Friday, they essentially committed to giving Ehire Adrianza a chance to be their primary left fielder for the foreseeable future.
“[Adrianza] has done a really good job,” Snitker said. “He filled in for Ronald [Acuña Jr.] in New York in [the Yankees] series, and he’s been a good piece for us here. So we’re just going to let him have a few cracks at it.”
Adrianza has hit .239 with three homers and a .715 OPS this year. But most of his production has been in a backup role. He has a .569 OPS in 52 plate appearances as a starter and a .973 OPS in 28 plate appearances off the bench. He has also made just 22 career starts as an outfielder. Six of those have been tallied this year.
“He’s just an athletic guy,” Snitker said. “He’s gotten some big hits for us. We’ll give him that opportunity.”
With highly regarded prospect Drew Waters -- ranked No. 2 in Atlanta’s system by MLB Pipeline -- at least a month from being deemed ready for the Majors, the Braves’ only other legitimate internal option would have been to promote Abraham Almonte from Triple-A Gwinnett. But the club opted not to call upon Almonte or Travis Demeritte, who was a below-average defender when he made 46 starts as a Tigers outfielder in 2019.
Keeping Riley at third
While the Braves discussed moving Austin Riley to left field, Snitker never seemed comfortable moving the young slugger away from third base.
“He plays a Gold Glove third for me,” Snitker said. “It’s hard to crack that when [the Cardinals’ Nolan] Arenado is playing [third base]. But [Riley] is a Gold Glove third baseman in my opinion.”