The Braves did not stand pat at the trade deadline and instead made the move to pick up promising young starter Kevin Gausman from the Baltimore Orioles. Today will mark Gausman’s first action with the Braves against the lowly Mets.
Gausman’s season numbers don’t jump off the page with a 4.43 ERA and 4.59 FIP, but the fact that he was able to achieve those decent numbers in the tough AL East in front of the worst infield defense in baseball is encouraging. Gausman can get bitten by the home run bug from time to time, but again moving out of the small ballpark that is Camden Yards into one that suppresses homers a little better should help him to better his stats.
His opponent for the Mets will be Zack Wheeler who was also bandied about at the trade deadline but ended up staying put in New York. Wheeler owns a 4.11 ERA and 3.58 FIP and is on track to have his best season in the major leagues. The 28 year old has less than 500 major league innings in his career due to injuries that have plagued him in the past.
The Braves have won the first two matchups of the series and are looking to win the series today. The Mets are a great opportunity to pad the Braves win column numbers so it is important they capitalize today and tomorrow.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Saturday, August 4, 7:10 p.m. ET
Location: Citi Field, Flushing, NY
TV: Fox Sports South
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM, WYAY 106.7, Braves Radio Network