Lineup, how to watch Atlanta's Friday night opener against the Washington Nationals
Fresh off of a sweep of division rival New York and winners of five straight, the Braves are putting their winning streak in the hands of a prospect tonight. RHP AJ Smith-Shawver, Atlanta's #1 prospect, gets the first MLB start of his career tonight against the Washington Nationals. It's the first of sixteen straight games against teams with losing records for Atlanta, so let's see if the Braves can grow their 3.5 game lead in the division in the month of June.
Lineup for the Atlanta Braves on Friday, June 9th
Here's how the Braves will line up for the contest:
If it isn't broken, don't fix it.
Atlanta sticks with the regulars in this one, swapping catchers and reinserting Sean Murphy behind the plate and in the cleanup spot.
Sometimes, we forget how great of a luxury it is to have two catchers that can interchangeably bat cleanup. Travis d'Arnaud is the most overqualified backup catcher in MLB.
Atlanta Braves vs Washington Nationals pitching matchup for Friday, June 9th
Atlanta's sending twenty year-old RHP AJ Smith-Shawver to the mound for his first career start. A 2021 7th round pick out of high school, Smith-Shawver has 110 career professional innings under his belt, climbing from High-A all the way to the majors in the first two months of the season. In the minors, he went 2-1 with a 1.09 ERA, striking out forty-five in his thirty-three innings of work. In his major league debut last Monday, against Arizona, he went two and a third innings, striking out three with one walk.
Opposing Atlanta is RHP Josiah Gray. He's 4-5 on the season, with a 3.09 ERA in his twelve starts on the year. Gray has struck out fifty-five batters in his sixty-seven innings on the season, walking thirty-three and surrendering eight homeruns. He's 1-2 with a 3.33 ERA in five career starts against Atlanta, with six current Braves having homered off of him in their careers.
How to Watch the Atlanta Braves vs Washington Nationals on Friday, June 9th
The first pitch is scheduled for 7:20 pm ET. The game broadcast, with Voice of the Braves Brandon Gaudin, is available inside Braves Country on Bally Sports Southeast and is available on MLB.TV outside of the broadcast area. The radio call, with Ben Ingram, is available locally on 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan or outside the Atlanta market on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network or MLB.com. And, as always, we'll have all your coverage right here on Braves Today.
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