SITE NOTE: “Three up, three down,” a weekly review of who’s hot and not for the Cubs that usually runs Monday mornings, will run tomorrow due to today’s Labor Day holiday.
The last time the Cubs faced the Braves was May 23, 2024 — that’s 466 days ago. The Cubs lost four of six to the Braves last year, but the 2024 Braves were a wild-card team that won 89 games. Injuries, mostly, have been what’s ruined the 2025 season for Atlanta.
For more on the Braves, here’s Demetrius Bell, manager of our SB Nation
Braves site Battery Power.
I wish the Braves would’ve kept up the end of their bargain this season because this would’ve been a fun way to kick off the final month of the season if both of these teams had something to play for. Instead, things have gone horribly wrong as the Braves are essentially playing out the string at this point. Fortunately, the offense is finally starting to show some signs of sustained life. According to team wRC+, the Braves have been at or very close to the top 10 in baseball since the All-Star break. OF Michael Harris II has bounced back from being one of the worst everyday players in all of baseball during the first half to being a top 10 player (according to fWAR) since July 11. OF Jurickson Profar has gone on a tear as well — it took him a while to get going after returning from the PED suspension and there were some worries about him turning out to be a baseball lemon but ever since that rough start, he’s been performing as advertised and has been one of the main reasons why the Braves have at least been watchable lately. OF Ronald Acuña Jr. has been effective since returning from the knee injury but he’s definitely slowed down a bit since returning from a calf injury that he was inexplicably allowed to play on for a couple of innings.
While injuries have ravaged this team, they can’t be used as an excuse for this team’s struggles like they were last year. There’s been underperformance across the board and sadly for us here in Braves Country, the starting rotation suffered from both underperformance and injury. The only starter left standing from Opening Day’s rotation is Chris Sale and even he has had a stint on the 60-Day IL this season. Everybody else is gone and on top of that, Spencer Strider has not been the same since returning from elbow surgery last season.
The young pitchers who are here (like Hurston Waldrep and Joey Wentz) have performed admirably but it’s clear that a lot of these guys just do not have the ability to get it done at a high level. Atlanta has started 17 different pitchers so far this season, which should let you know how “well” things have been going around here. This staff can keep offenses quiet on their best day but if they aren’t at their best, look out. They’ve had two separate instances of giving up four homers to a single player (Eugenio Suarez in April and Kyle Schwarber just a few days ago) and a whole bunch of instances where they’ve blown leads from like five-to-eight runs. This is a consistently inconsistent team and that probably explains why they’re in the position they’re currently in as the season winds down.
Fun facts
After hosting the Braves today through Wednesday, the Cubs will play three games at Atlanta next Monday through Wednesday. This will be the last of three times this season that the Cubs will face an opponent twice in a span of three series. The earlier times were May 12-14 and 19-21, vs. the Marlins, at home, then on the road, and May 23-25 and May 30-June 1, vs. the Reds, on the road, then at home.
…..
Two wins in this series will raise the Cubs’ total to 700 at home against the Braves. They have won more only against the Cardinals, 712. Since 2018, the Cubs are 1-6-1 in series at home against the Braves. They won two of three in 2022 and split four games in 2019. In each of the other series, they lost two of three.
(Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
Probable pitching matchups
Monday: Colin Rea, RHP (10-6, 4.23 ERA, 1.318 WHIP, 4.67 FIP) vs. Spencer Strider, RHP (5-12, 4.95 ERA, 1.381 WHIP, 4.64 FIP)
Tuesday: Shōta Imanaga, LHP (8-6, 3.08 ERA, 0.932 WHIP, 4.42 FIP) vs. Joey Wentz, LHP (3-3, 3.43 ERA, 1.119 WHIP, 3.03 FIP)
Wednesday: Cade Horton, RHP (9-4, 2.92 ERA, 1.186 WHIP, 3.79 FIP) vs. Bryce Elder, RHP (5-9, 5.85 ERA, 1.476 WHIP, 4.89 FIP)
Times & TV channels
Monday: 3:05 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network
Tuesday: 6:40 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network
Wednesday: 6:40 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network
Prediction
One look at the Braves pitchers and their numbers and you can see why Atlanta is having such a bad season. The Cubs look like they have the advantage in all three pitching matchups, so I’ll call for two of three (and hope for a sweep, as the Braves have been pretty bad on the road, 28-42 THROUGH SATURDAY).
Up next
The Cubs have Thursday off, then host the Washington Nationals in a three-game series at Wrigley Field beginning Friday afternoon.
