Braves vs. Astros GameThread: 4/21/2023

The Braves and Astros are set to tangle for the first of three on Friday night, in a game that can only be seen on Apple TV+ because the goal of all commerce and civilization is to get everyone to subscribe to as many streaming services as possible to watch games in a league that is essentially run by a single organization. Yay.

Anyway, here’s the Statcast graphic.

And, if you are so inclined, the game preview is here, while the lineups discussion is here.

Other than that, I think the only thing I’ll note is that I keep writing that this is a “tough test” for Bryce Elder, but really, this is a pretty diminished Houston lineup where perhaps only 2-5 are particularly fearsome, and Jose Abreu is really struggling, so it may not be that tough of a test. Still, the Astros prep well and definitely have a useful teamwide approach, so it may not be a walk in the park, even if five of the nine spots are currently running weakling-level xwOBAs.