Max Fried looks to lead Atlanta to the sweep

The Braves are back to their winning ways after a brief malaise and are looking to secure their second straight sweep at home after sweeping the Yankees during the week. Max Fried is taking the mound for Atlanta and he has looked like himself right from the jump coming back from his injury, despite one outing in which he got BABIP’d pretty hard. Jakob Junis is taking the mound for the Giants, as they look to stay ahead in the free-for-all that is the NL wild card race.

Junis has been a solid long-reliever since joining San Francisco last year, with a FIP and xFIP in the mid-to-upper 3s, although an ERA in the low 4s. While he hasn’t been used as a true starter this season, he has often covered multiple innings in multiple roles through his career and has maxed out at 4.0 innings this season. Junis likes to pitch off of his slider, throwing it 64% of the time this season, up from a still-high 50% last season. It’s no surprise, as this is his best pitch, significantly more effective than his sinker that he throws a good bit and changeup that he mixes in. The Giants have had one of the best bullpens in baseball this season, so a bullpen game isn’t a green light for the Braves offense to slug, but this also isn’t a Cy Young level challenge and I’d easily take Max Fried over what the Giants are rolling out even with offenses set as equal.

Game Notes

Game Date/Time: Sunday, August 20, 1:35 p.m. ET

Location: Truist Park: Atlanta, Georgia

TV: Bally Sports Southeast

Streaming: MLB.tv

Listen: 680 AM/93.7 The Fan