Atlanta Braves Vs. Boston Red Sox
The Atlanta Braves enter play on Wednesday night with the best record in all of baseball (64-35). Atlanta holds a comfortable eleven-game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East.
According to DraftKings Sportsbook, this team holds the best odds of winning the world series. The Braves are +330 to win the world series and +165 to win the National League.
Atlanta sent eight players to the all-star game, which was the most of any team in baseball.
Ronald Acuna Jr has been the star of the team. Acuna Jr has been one of the best players in baseball over the last few years. He holds the best odds of any player in the NL to win MVP (-500).
Acuna Jr is batting .328 on the season with twenty-three home runs and fifty-eight RBI. Additionally, Acuna has swiped a league-high forty-eight bases.
Matt Olson earned himself his second all-star appearance. Olson has led the team in home runs with thirty-two while driving in eighty runs. Olson holds the seventh-best odds of winning the NL MVP.
Austin Riley made his second consecutive all-star game. Riley is batting .270 on the campaign with twenty-two home runs, and sixty-one runs batted in.
The Braves' middle infield has been the best in baseball from an offensive standpoint. Ozzie Albies and Orlando Arcia were all-stars this year for a good reason. The two have combined for thirty-three home runs and one hundred and three runs batted in.
- The Braves rank number one in baseball in home runs (187)
The pitching has been strong for the Braves, ranking fifth in the MLB in team ERA (3.81). This is an impressive stat, as the team has been without their ace Max Fried since May 5th.
Spencer Strider has taken over as the ace of this rotation in the absence of Fried. Strider found his way to his first all-star game in his second MLB season. Strider enters play with a record of 11-3 and an ERA of 3.78.
- Strider leads the MLB in strikeouts (189).
The Red Sox will begin play, representing a record of 54-47. They are seven games out of first place in the AL East but just 1.5 games out of the final spot in the AL Wildcard.
Boston has overachieved to this stage in the season as they were slated to finish towards the bottom of the AL entering the season.
The big question becomes, what will the Sox do at the deadline? This is a roster that has multiple veterans they could sell at the deadline, but this is Boston, and it is rare to see this franchise give
It is important to note that the Red Sox traded utility man Kike Hernandez yesterday to the Los Angles Dodgers.
Rafael Devers is one guy that will not be going anywhere for a long time. Devers inked an 11-year, 331 million-dollar contract. Devers has delivered on that deal to this stage in the season with twenty-four home runs and seventy-five runs batted in.
Masataka Yoshida has been the most consistent bat in this Red Sox lineup. Yoshida, who is playing in his MLB season, is batting a team-best .320 on the year. In addition, he has hit twelve home runs and driven in fifty-three runs.
Veteran Justin Turner has performed well in his first year in Boston. Turner is batting .286 while driving in sixty-four runs.
Pitching has been the issue for the Sox to this stage in the season. The Sox rank 17th in the majors with a team ERA of 4.30. Brayan Bello would not be the guy to blame for the teams pitching issues. The young right-handed pitcher is 7-6 with an ERA of 3.60.
Pick: Atlanta Braves -1 (-135 DraftKings)
Strider has struggled in his last two starts allowing nine runs in twelve innings. Before those last two starts, Strider had allowed just five runs in twenty-seven innings.
Strider has not allowed four runs or more in three straight starts this season, and that will stay true tonight. This could be the perfect get-right spot for Strider.
Strider has pitched much better away from Atlanta. He represents an ERA of 2.94 on the road compared to 4.45 in Atlanta.
The only Red Sox who has faced Strider before is Justin Turner (0-3). Strider is a tough guy to put up runs against, in general, but seeing him for the first time is even more difficult.
Atlanta has limited experience vs. Bello, but they have seen him well. The team has twenty-two at-bats for Bello, representing a team average of .273 and an OBP of .304.
Bello has been terrific this season, and while his future is bright, he is struggling to find his stuff at the moment. Bello has an ERA of 5.82 in July, and things will get no easier tonight, facing the best lineup in baseball.
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