The Braves have been, perhaps disappointingly, even steven so far on their seven-game swing out West: they split a four-game set with the Diamondbacks, and then split the first two games of this series with the Angels. After some fisticuffs and go-for-the-throat bullpen management in a win last night, they have a chance to both win the series (and therefore avoid their first series loss of the year) and push themselves into a winning road trip — provided that things align for the bats and for Grant
Holmes.
Holmes’ season will continue to be mired in, “Is he actually healthy enough to last?” — at least in the early going. While he hasn’t shown any ill effects associated with a non-surgical recovery from last year’s elbow injury, his pitching has been a mixed bag so far. In his season debut, he had a 4/2 K/BB ratio and gave up a homer in five innings against the Royals. In his next start, it was a 4/3 K/BB ratio but no homer (or any runs charged to him) in six frames. Put those together, and his line through two starts is a silly 65 ERA-, 110 FIP-, 121 xFIP-, with a low xERA (above his ERA but way closer to it than to his FIP) to boot. His command has been a mess, but his breaking stuff has been tough to contend with. His slider, despite generally not being anywhere near the zone, has a whiff rate of about 55 percent. If hitters stop waving at it and wait out his fastball instead, he’s in trouble, but that hasn’t happened in a concerted sense yet.
While it may not be realistic to expect a bunch of length from Holmes, the Braves might feel like they need it anyway. Even with tomorrow’s travel-slash-off day, Aaron Bummer has pitched two days in a row and is probably off the table, while Raisel Iglesias and Robert Suarez both threw a fair bit of pitches in last night’s win. This might be a “Osvaldo Bido and/or Jose Suarez pick up the slack” sort of the game, though the Braves will probably lean heavily on Dylan Lee and Tyler Kinley if needed… and it’s not like Suarez and Iglesias are off the table.
The Angels will counter Holmes with veteran Reid Detmers. The 26-year-old left-hander has been in the majors since he was 21 years old, and was a mid-rotation starter for a while, before a weird thing where the Angels reacted to his ERA and not his peripherals and sent him to the minors for a big chunk of 2024, the year where he posted his first sub-100 xFIP-. Go figure. He then spent 2025 in the bullpen and was dominant, but is back in the rotation this year.
Though the Angels have lost both of his starts thus far, they’ve been interesting. In his 2026 debut, he absolutely eviscerated the Astros (9/0 K/BB ratio in 4 2/3), but got BABIPed (and had a runner score after he left the game) such that he was charged with three runs. He then had more or less the opposite outing, where he had just a 4/4 K/BB ratio in six innings against the Mariners, but those walks were spaced out and he avoided getting charged with any runs. Which Detmers will appear this afternoon? Who knows.
Holmes had a really nice start against the Angels last year, with a 10/3 K/BB ratio in six innings. Detmers last started against the Braves back in 2022 in a nice effort (6/2 K/BB ratio in five innings without being charged in a run in a blowout win), and had a nondescript relief appearance against them last year. That latter appearance actually came in the game Grant Holmes started, which the Braves lost 4-0 thanks to a four-spot hung on Dylan Lee and Enyel de los Santos in the eighth.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Wednesday, April 8, 4:07 p.m. EDT
Location: Angel Stadium, Anaheim, CA
TV: BravesVision
Streaming: MLB.tv / BravesVision
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan
