Mets' Starting Pitchers for Braves Announced: Sending Their Best Doesn't Guarantee an Edge

The New York Mets are heading to Atlanta for their first visit to Truist Park, and it will be a meeting of slumping teams. Atlanta's once-commanding lead in the National League East has shrunk in recent weeks, with a red-hot Philadelphia Phillies team closing the gap quickly. At the same time, the Mets have all but put their 2026 season to rest and are now all but certain to sell off pieces at the trading deadline.

Following a rough series loss in Toronto, the Mets are squarely in last place in the NL East, due in large part to their lack of starting pitching consistency. As it stands entering July, the Mets have four arms in their rotation that are going every week, with a revolving door of options for the fifth spot. The Mets will not use their fifth starter this time against Atlanta.

With Kodai Senga in the bullpen and Zach Thornton in the minor leagues after a great outing at Citi Field against the Phillies last week, the Mets will skip their fifth spot in the rotation thanks to the day off before this series. The team will not need a fifth starter until they host the Kansas City Royals on July 7th at Citi Field.

The Braves have struggled at the plate recently, scoring just 15 runs in their last six games, with five of them coming on Wednesday against the St. Louis Cardinals. This gives a few Mets starters a great chance to build upon recent success in their outings.

Friday, July 3rd (7:15 PM ET): RHP Christian Scott (2-0, 3.20 ERA) vs. RHP Grant Holmes (4-4, 3.96 ERA)

Christian Scott made a successful return from the injured list against the Phillies, allowing two earned runs in a shortened 4.1 innings pitched. In his second start back, expect him to be more stretched out and go deeper than just 82 pitches. His 3.20 ERA has been the most consistent mark for a Met all season, and Scott is showing that he can be an arm the Mets pencil into their 2027 rotation.

Atlanta is set to run with Grant Holmes in the first game of the four-game set, looking for more out of the veteran starter than they have gotten lately. His June was up and down, but lacked any depth in his starts. Over five appearances (four starts), he just barely crossed the 20-inning mark with a 3.98 ERA. He worked as an opener in his last outing after totaling just 10.1 innings in his prior three starts.

Advantage: Mets

Saturday, July 4th (8:08 PM ET): LHP Sean Manaea (1-3, 4.71 ERA) vs. LHP Chris Sale (8-6, 2.10 ERA)

Since returning to the rotation after starting the year in the bullpen, the veteran Manaea owns a 4.05 ERA with a 1.20 WHIP and 19 strikeouts in 20 innings of work. It isn't quite the ace number that he posted in 2024, but Manaea could be incredibly valuable in the back end of the Mets' rotation while he's playing like this. His revival might have saved his job with the Mets heading into the final year of his three-year free agency contract with the team. Three of his four starts have gone at least five innings, providing valuable length.

Chris Sale is once again pitching to a sparkling ERA this season, but has fallen on a bit of tough luck lately. His 2.10 ERA is on pace to be the best full-season mark of his career, but he has already tallied six losses on the year. He has averaged exactly six innings an outing so far, and once again figures to be in the thick of the NL Cy Young race, which would be his second since joining the Braves.

Advantage: Braves

Sunday, July 5th (12:30 PM ET): RHP Nolan McLean (5-5, 3.78 ERA) vs LHP Martin Perez (6-5, 3.27 ERA)

It has been a weird stretch for the Mets' rookie starter, but six shutout innings with seven strikeouts were another banner performance for McLean. Following a brutal May, he ended with a 2.79 ERA in five starts last month, showing signs that his initial struggles in May, highlighted by a nine-run outing against the Washington Nationals, are behind him. What remains to be seen is if he can take the next step into becoming a legitimate front-end starter, which many believe he can be.

Martin Perez faced off with the Mets at Citi Field when these two teams met a few weeks back, and more than handled his own. He went 5.1 innings with just one earned run and four strikeouts, shutting down a mediocre Mets offense that struggled in Toronto against the Blue Jays. He will have to deal with the return of Francisco Lindor, who has struggled against lefties this year.

Advantage: Mets

Monday, July 6th (7:15 PM ET): RHP Freddy Peralta (5-7, 4.81 ERA) vs RHP Reynaldo Lopez (4-1, 3.31 ERA)

Freddy Peralta allowed no earned runs with five strikeouts over 5.2 innings of work against the Cubs last week, which was a great sign after his historic debacle against the Phillies in his start prior. He followed it up with another brutal showing against Toronto, which was just another turn in the up-and-down summer for Peralta. He allowed five runs over four innings against the Blue Jays, a start in which he hit the strike zone under 60% of the time.

He went five one-run innings against the Braves at Citi Field last month, capping his outing with 90 pitches. He'll look to rebuild his trade value entering July, with the chances he is dealt at the deadline growing with every Mets loss.

Much like Manaea, Reynaldo Lopez is settling back into the Atlanta rotation after being sent to the bullpen in the midst of a three-year contract that runs through 2027. Much like Manaea, Lopez found success in his first outing since being slid back into the rotation. He went three innings against the Giants, with just one earned run allowed, allowing four base runners and striking out one. He followed that up with a strong six-strikeout, one-earned-run performance in five innings on Wednesday.

Advantage: Braves

Add us as a preferred source on Google