Previewing The Battle Between East Powerhouses: Braves @ Yankees

Quick-Hitters

• Wednesday night, the Atlanta Braves head to the Bronx to face the New York Yankees.

• The Yankees started the season hot by going 8-1, but have been in a slump ever since, winning just two of their last seven contests.

• The Braves will use a bullpen approach to this contest, using opener Huascar Ynoa to start things off.

• Giancarlo Stanton aggravated his hamstring and could be out for most of the regular-season. CLICK HERE FOR LIVE GAME ODDS!

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Roller Coaster In The Bronx

Despite starting the season as favorites to win the AL, including a hot start that saw them win eight of their first nine games, the New York Yankees have trailed off with an underwhelming 2-5 record since. Aaron Judge leads the MLB with eight home runs thanks to the outfielder tallying a long-ball in five-straight games to open the season. The Yankees are also ranked third in batting average (.335) as a squad. DJ LeMahieu leads New York with a .397 average, which is the third-best mark in baseball. Gio Urshela and Mike Tauchman are both batting over .300 as well.

Home runs have been distributed pretty evenly amongst the squad (aside from Judge), but Gary Sanchez and Aaron Hicks have been lacking in this particular category. Sanchez will be itching to get out of this rut and launch a home run against a young, inexperienced pitcher. Sanchez’s player prop to hit a home run will be worth watching at +300, per DraftKings Sportsbook.

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Bullpen Battle

While Masahiro Tanaka will get the start for the pinstripes, the Braves will go with an extended bullpen look. Opener Huascar Ynoa is expected to get the nod and could log a couple of innings for Atlanta. The righty logged 2.1 innings of work in his last opening appearance and allowed a run.

The Braves have been wise to lean on their bullpen this season. The group has tallied an impressive 3.05 ERA across 79.2 innings in 2020. Mark Melancon, Shane Greene, Josh Tomlin, and Tyler Matzek have yet to allow a run during the campaign, proving the the Braves have a loaded pen. This is a massive strength for Atlanta and they'll attempt to steal a game from New York by giving their hitters numerous looks in the batter's box.

Missing A Bomber

New York's second-best home run hitter, Giancarlo Stanton, was just put on the injured list with a strained hamstring. Stanton has three home runs in the 2020 season, but has also been an exceptional hitter with a .293 average. Stanton leads the Yankees with a .425 on-base percentage as well. While Stanton is a dangerous hitter, the Yankees have also had trouble scoring with runners on base during their slump, so his absence may not be too harmful in the short-term.

In terms of homers, this Yankees squad is tied for fourth in the MLB with 27 home runs, and with Stanton contributing only three runs to this tally, the team may not be much worse off without him, especially if he's replaced by prospect Clint Frazier. Between Luke Voit, Gio Urshela, and Gleyber Torres, this team is not lacking in the power department. Keep an eye on the run total in this matchup to see if it drops too low in Stanton’s absence.