New York Yankees vs. Atlanta Braves: Series Preview, Likely Pitchers

After ending a series against the Orioles with a miss on Thursday, it’s time for another marquee game at Yankee Stadium this weekend, this time in the National League. Starting tonight, the Braves will be in town for a three-game series in the Bronx, featuring top names all over the field.

Despite having a powerhouse team that has won 100 games over the past two seasons, the Braves have actually been mediocre by their standards so far this year. After a good start to the campaign, they are only 0.500 since the beginning of May. This caused them to fall several games behind the very impressive Phillies in the NL East.

Among the hits that caused this was Ronald Acuña Jr., who didn’t have a year of his caliber, and is also now out for the season after suffering a torn ACL. Aside from him, the Braves will also be without Michael Harris II, who recently hit the IL with a hamstring strain. On top of that, they’ve been without Opening Day starter Spencer Strider for a while now, as he underwent season-ending surgery in April. Even without these guys, Atlanta’s roster still has a lot of very dangerous players, but only a few have really played to their full potential so far this year. (Check out Andrés’ article later today for more.)

Before things get started tonight, let’s take a look at the pitching matchups we’ll see this weekend.

Friday: Carlos Rodón vs. Chris Sale (7:05 p.m. ET)

Rodón comes into this match off his worst start to 2024 so far. He allowed five runs in the first two innings last Saturday as the Yankees lost a game to the Red Sox. Despite this, he did a solid job after the first two frames, settling in and eating up a few rounds without letting things get out of hand. Prior to this start, he had been excellent of late, posting a 2.28 ERA in his previous seven starts.

Opposite him will be his former White Sox teammate and old Yankees AL East foe, Chris Sale. After a few years of setbacks and injuries to end his tenure with the Red Sox, Sale turned back the clock in Atlanta and is on track to have his best season since 2018. So far this year, he has posted a 2.98 ERA, a 2.34 FIP. , and he struck out 99 batters in 81.2 innings. Sale also only walked 13 batters, and only six pushed him deep. It has been particularly impressive since the beginning of May. Since then, he has a 2.52 ERA, which even includes a start where he allowed eight runs. This one could be a battle.

Note: Please be aware that this is an Apple TV+ game and will not be streamed anywhere else.

Saturday: Marcus Stroman vs. Charlie Morton (7:15 p.m. ET)

Like Rodón, Stroman arrives in this mediocre start in Boston. He also hasn’t gone past the sixth inning in any of his outings so far in June, even lasting just 5.2 innings in a shutout at Kansas City. Stroman spent the last three seasons in the National League, including one and two as a division rival Braves with the Mets. During his career, he had a 2.61 ERA in 38 innings against Atlanta. For more on Stroman, check out David’s article from yesterday about his cutter.

So far this year, Morton has been only a little above average with a 104+ ERA. However, he had plenty of success against the Yankees during his career, having spent time with the Astros and Rays. He faced them for the first time in 2014 with Pittsburgh. Last year, in a game in Atlanta, he mowed down the Yankees, striking out 10 in 6 scoreless innings.

Sunday: Nestor Cortes vs. Max Fried (1:35 p.m. ET)

Earlier this week, Cortes had a great outing during the Orioles series. He allowed no runs on five hits in six innings. Overall, his last two starts have been pretty good, which is nice to see after going almost a month without getting out of the sixth inning, during which time he had allowed five home runs in four starts.

After dealing with injuries on and off in 2023, Fried is back in full force in 2024. He has a 3.11 ERA and a 3.33 FIP, which is pretty good considering he started the year allowing 15 points in his first 4 games. Fried twirled a Maddux in his next start and from then on posted a 2.00 ERA and .465 OPS in 10 outings. He also beat the Yankees when the two teams met last year, allowing two runs in six innings in a Braves victory.