Star studded Braves, Angels battle as trade deadline looms

The league’s top two home run hitters are in Atlanta for the Braves’ series versus the Los Angeles Angels

On the first and third-best home run hitting teams in the league, Matt Olson of the Braves (67-36) and Shohei Ohtani of the Angels (55-51) are leading their respective leagues in homers. Olson has 35 of the Braves’ 195, but Ohtani keeps smacking the ball and has 39 of the Angels’ 162.

And with the trade deadline approaching on Tuesday, Ohtani won’t be going anywhere. At third place in the AL West, five games back of the Rangers and four games back from a wild card spot, the Angels announced they are holding onto the MLB home run leader and have become buyers.

Names to Know

These teams are already showcasing deadline acquisitions in Yonny Chirinos for the Braves and starting pitcher Lucas Giolito, first baseman C.J. Cron and outfielder Randal Grichuk for the Angels. The Braves are 11.5 games up on the Marlins in the NL East, but they will likely make a move or two early on in this series, too.

This series will have all the star power you could ask for, but that will be diminished slightly as the Angels are dealing with injuries to outfielders Mike Trout – who is on the 10-day IL while recovering from hand surgery – and Taylor Ward – who is on the 60-day IL after being hit in the face by an Alek Manoah fastball on Sunday.

Nonetheless, Ohtani and the Braves will display some of the game’s most exciting talent.

The 2021 MVP leads the league in AL in homers, triples (seven), walks (64), average exit velocity (94.3 MPH), hits allowed per nine innings (5.9), and he’s third in the league in strikeouts (156). But coming off a complete-game shutout, the Braves will miss his arm in the series.

With the best record in baseball, the Braves also have several individuals on a tear. Austin Riley has eight homers in his last 11 games, Olson hit two homers and drove in five in his last game to take the MLB lead with 88 RBI and Marcell Ozuna hit four homers in the Braves’ past series with the Brewers. Ronald Acuña also has 10 multi-hit games this month and ranks second in the MLB batting .335.

Keys to the Series

Outside of Ohtani, the pitching staff has been a glaring weakness for the Halos this year (thus the addition of Giolito). They rank 19th in the MLB with a 4.41 ERA, and their starters rank 21st with just 32 quality starts.

It will be key to get to the Angels early in games. Not only are Angels starters a weakness, early offense is a strength for the Braves. Atlanta leads the league in first-inning scoring with 109 runs on 147 hits and 32 homers. In large part, that is credit to Ronald Acuña Jr., who is batting .424 with 39 hits, 12 walks, 13 steals and a 1.163 OPS in the first inning.

Opposingly, the Angels have surrendered 45 first-inning runs this year, and it is best not to attempt a ninth-inning comeback against the Halos.

The Angels boast one of the top closers in the game in Carlos Estevez. The righty is 23-for-23 in save opportunities with a 5-1 record and a 1.88 ERA. He has struck out 53 and only allowed one homer in his first year with the Angels.

However, if the Angels can keep runs off the board early and right fielder Hunter Renfroe and Ohtani rally to win the home run battle, the Angels are dangerous coming into this three-game series at Truist Park.

Pitching Matchups

Here are the pitching matchups for the three-game series with the Angels:

Game 1, Monday at 7:20 p.m. EST:

-Charlie Morton (10-8, 3.57) vs. Griffin Canning (6-4, 4.46)

Matchup rundown: Morton’s numbers and experience both have the upper hand here, as there is a 12-year gap between the two righties. However, things have not been smooth sailing for Morton as of late. He has lost his last two starts, giving up four runs on six hits each time out – most recently, in 3.2 innings versus the Red Sox.

Canning is an arm the Angels need improvement from if they are to make a playoff chase. He has kept the Angels in games, as they’ve won his last two starts in extra innings. The Braves are a dangerous matchup for him, especially as of late, since he’s allowed opponents to hit .316 off of him with four homers in three July starts.

Game 2, Tuesday at 7:20 p.m. EST:

-Spencer Strider (11-3, 3.73) vs. Patrick Sandoval (6-7, 4.13)

Matchup rundown: Despite striking out 10 last time out in 6.1 IP versus Boston, Strider fell one K short of 200 on the year. After being the first pitcher to reach 100 Ks on the season, he has a pretty solid chance to double that against an Angels team that strikes out the fifth most in the MLB. Not to mention, he’s on a streak of four straight games with a double-digit K total.

He’s more than doubled the strikeout total of his opponent, the 26-year-old lefty. Sandoval only has 81 Ks, but he’s settled in well after tough months of May and June. He’s won his last two starts, and his first one was a tough-luck loss to the Padres while allowing one earned run in five IP. One of his best starts of the year was two outings ago against the Yankees: 7.1 innings of one-run, two-hit ball.

Game 3, Wednesday at 12:20 p.m. EST:

-Yonny Chirinos (4-4, 4.34) vs. Lucas Giolito (6-7, 3.85)

Matchup rundown: These two righties are both making their second starts in new threads after being traded last week.

Giolito, 2019 All-Star, notched a so-so start in a loss against the Blue Jays last time out. He has had a lot of tough luck as of late, losing all five starts in July despite throwing two quality starts and going five shutout innings versus two starts ago. Unlike the Angels first two starters of the series, he does strike out a lot of batters (136) with a nasty fastball-slider combo.

Chirinos was subpar last time out, but he was good enough for the Braves offense to cook and earn a 10-7 win over the Brewers. He only lasted 3.2 innings and gave up four runs on six hits with three Ks, but maybe the win was enough to spark Chirinos going into his sixth start of the year.

Trends and Splits

The Braves got the best of the Angels in their sole matchup last season, including an 8-1 win in game three with Ohtani on the mound. Ohtani went 2-for-11 with a homer in that series, and the Braves took two-of-three.

This year, the Braves’ past two interleague series since the All-Star break have not gone well. They lost two games to the Red Sox last week and dropped two of three with the White Sox coming out of the break. However, their 21-19 interleague record bests the Angels’ 13-18.

Atlanta is coming in off a sweep of the Brewers, while the Angels avoided getting swept by the Blue Jays with a 3-2 win in 10 innings on Sunday. Despite the most recent action, the Angels are 7-3 in their last 10 while the Braves fought off a cold streak at home in the last series to improve to 6-4 in that stretch.

These two teams are set for their one and only series matchup this season. Game one is being streamed on ESPN+ in addition to Bally Sports, and the latter two games will be broadcasted on Bally Sports.

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