Braves announce pitching plans for Nationals series

Fresh off of a 4-5 road trip, the Atlanta Braves will return to Truist Park Monday where they will begin an eight game homestand against the Nationals, Phillies and Yankees. The Braves have been forced to mix and match their rotation after losing Mike Soroka to a season-ending injury and Mike Foltynewicz and Sean Newcomb to ineffectiveness. Robbie Erlin stepped in on Sunday throwing four shutout innings as the Braves utilized a bullpen game to secure a series win against the Miami Marlins.

The Nationals come into the series with an 8-11 record and are 4-6 over their last 10. Atlanta will miss their vaunted big three of Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin in the upcoming series.

Touki Toussaint will make his fourth start for the Braves in Monday’s series opener. Toussaint will be looking to bounce back after a rough outing against the Yankees where he allowed four hits, six runs (five earned) in just four innings. He will be opposed by former Brave Anibal Sanchez who has been hit hard in three starts so far this season. Sanchez was tagged for six hits and five runs in just 2 2/3 innings against the Mets last time out. He has allowed a total of 16 hits and 10 earned runs over his last eight innings.

Brian Snitker announced Sunday that Josh Tomlin will make his first start of the season on Tuesday. Tomlin has been effective out of the bullpen making eight appearances while posting a 1.59 ERA (1.11 FIP) in 11 1/3 innings. Tomlin has done a great job limiting hard contact and will look to give the Braves as many innings as he can. The Nationals will go with Austin Voth on Tuesday. Voth allowed six hits and three runs in four innings of his most recent outing against the Mets. He has yet to pitch more than five innings in any of his three starts this season.

Kyle Wright will be looking for redemption as well when he starts the series finale on Wednesday. Wright again got off to a good start in his last outing in Miami but saw things unravel in the third when he issued four walks in the third. He would exit after allowing two hits and three runs to go along with six walks and just one strikeout. He has allowed 17 hits, 16 walks and has 12 strikeouts in just 15 innings across his four starts.

The Nationals will go with right-handler Erick Fedde who will return to the rotation in place of Strasburg who was recently placed on the injured list due to a nerve issue in his hand. Fedde has pitched well overall allowing three runs in 7 1/3 innings combined as a starter.