The Atlanta Braves are just 2-6 on the young season. That's the bad news. The good news is they start a four-game series against a team that is not exactly a juggernaut on Friday. The Braves take on the san diego padres over Easter weekend and it's safe to assume anything less than a split would have to be considered a disappointment. The prospect of winning three out of four is enough to get any Atlanta fan pretty excited.
The NL East doesn't appear to have a juggernaut of its own just yet and moving from 2-6 to 5-7 could, at least for the moment, put the Braves in contention.
On the flip-side, the Padres' 5-5 record to open the season has to be considered a bit of a surprise. Over the winter, the Padres had to be considered one of the absolute worst teams in all of baseball. Can they parlay the weekend series into a plus .500 record? The Braves will have to hope finally getting their first home series of the season will give them some new life.
Who to watch on the Atlanta Braves
Anyone who watched Wednesday's game probably knows the first name we should be looking at when it comes to the Braves. Ender Inciarte has gotten off to a rather poor start to the season. On Wednesday night, Inciarte finally locked in, blasting two home runs and driving in three. While Inciarte's batting average is still below the Mendoza line, his overall numbers don't look nearly as bad as they did when the week began for the Braves.
On the pitching front, the man to watch for Atlanta is Braves ace Julio Teheran. Despite not yet recording a victory this season, he's been one of the best pitchers in baseball so far. In two starts, Teheran has thrown 13 innings and allowed just 10 hits and four walks while striking out 10 and not allowing an earned run. Teheran has been the toughest of tough luck Braves player, as the bullpen imploded after he exiting his first start.
The defense let him down in his second.
Who to watch on the San Diego Padres
If the Braves want to have a shot to take three out of four, even maybe even sweep the Padres, they are going to need to figure out a way to stop Wil Myers. Atlanta is facing a first baseman who is fresh off hitting for the cycle for the first time in his career.
He's batting .400 on the season and leads the Padres in home runs (3), on-base percentage (.419) triples (2) and total bases with 33.
You'll notice the one stat Myers didn't get mentioned as the team leader, is runs batted in. That's because the other guy the Braves have to worry about on offense is Yangervis Solarte. The third baseman has 10 RBI already to go with his .324 average and his two homers. If the Atlanta Braves pitching staff wants to have success this weekend, they'll need to shut Myes and Solarte down.
