Travis d’Arnaud back in the lineup as Braves continue series with Nationals

In Spencer Schwellenbach’s debut, d’Arnaud will be catching him.

Tonight is a big night for the Atlanta Braves as Spencer Schwellenbach is set to make his MLB debut against the Washington Nationals. He has only pitched two games at the AA level, but has dominated his competition this season. He has pitched to a 1.80 ERA, a SO/W ratio of 5.10, and a WHIP of 0.911 in 45.0 innings.

Of course, this means the Nationals, who have only scored more runs than three MLB teams this year, have not faced the Braves’ number three ranked prospect.

The Nationals will bring the following lineup with former Braves post-season hero Eddie Rosario manning LF and batting sixth:

Most of the Braves have faced the Nationals’ starter MacKenzie Gore before though, and the results have not been great. Although no Brave has had more than seven at-bats against Gore, five regulars have a .000 average against him. Orlando Arcia, Adam Duvall, Michael Harris, Sean Murphy, and Matt Olson are hitless against Gore.

Ozzie Albies and Marcell Ozuna have had decent success against Gore so far. Ozuna has a .333 average, 1.166 OPS and one HR in six at-bats. Albies has a .286 average, 1.000 OPS, and one HR in seven at-bats. It should be no shocker that Albies has had success since he has historically crushed lefties.

Newly healed Austin Riley has also had moderate success against Gore in his six at-bats with a .333 average and .786 OPS.

Travis d’Arnaud, who has a .533 OPS in five at-bats against Gore will get the start at catcher, and the Braves will stci with starting both Kelenic and Duvall in the outfield corners.

Fortunately for the Braves, Gore’s underlying metrics show that his expected ERA (xERA) is notably higher than his 3.04 at 3.63. He also does not induce many groundballs with his 37.1 percent being in the bottom 25.0 percent of qualified pitchers. At 36.6 percent, the Braves have the eleventh lowest rate at hitting groundballs. Gore also does not generate a lot of chases with his 26.5 being in the bottom 35.0 percent of MLB, and his expected batting average against (xBA) of .246 being in the bottom 48.0 percent. The Braves are tied for sixth in MLB in average.

There is a possibility that even though the Braves have struggled in a small sample against Gore, this matchup could work out well if the Braves can manage to make a lot of contact.