The Braves are finally back home at SunTrust Park tonight after a grueling road trip that saw them face a hot Cardinals team and a house of horrors at Coors Field. Atlanta will now get to face off against the NL Central cellar dwellers but as the Cubs learned this week, the Reds are not a team that should be taken lightly — especially since the Braves have shown that they have no room to take last-place teams lightly.
One of the reasons why the Reds still command respect even in their currently diminished state is the simple presence of Joey Votto. The longtime face of the Reds is having yet another great year and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down as the Reds come into Atlanta this weekend. He’s been hitting .316/.448/.601 this year with an amazing 166 wRC+ and 32 home runs, which is good for 5.0 fWAR so far this season. If the Reds had even a halfway decent record this year, he’d be in consideration for the NL MVP award.
Votto isn’t the only batter that R.A. Dickey will have to worry about tonight. Zack Cozart has also been having a very good season, and others like Scooter Gennett, Eugenio Suarez, and Adam Duvall have proven to be threats on a good day. Meanwhile, Phillip Ervin was recently called up and has come out of the gates on fire, so if he continues to get some playing time then he’ll be someone the Braves have to watch out for. Then you also have to worry about Billy Hamilton any time he makes it on base. Again, the Reds may have a poor record but this is not a team that should be slept on.
On the other side of things, the crew at Cincinnati may be shocked to see their old friend Brandon Phillips not only playing at third base, but actually holding down the hot corner decently. I’m not saying that the shock of seeing their former longtime second baseman playing at a completely different position should just completely awe the Reds into defeat, but it would be nice to see Phillips show off a bit of his skill at his newfound position.
R.A. Dickey’s last outing against the Reds didn’t go super well, but the Braves offense came alive and was able to pick him up despite the fact that he gave up four earned runs and walked five. Dickey has been pitching much better as of late, and if that continues (and the Braves can knock around Sal Romano like other teams have done in his most recent starts), then tonight could wind up being a good night for the Braves.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Friday, August 18, 2017, 7:35 pm ET
Location: Suntrust Park, Atlanta, GA
TV: Fox Sports South, MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM, 93.7 FM (Flagship in Atlanta), WYAY 106.7, Braves Radio Network