On The Horizon: Cubs vs. Braves series preview

The Cubs lost two of three to the Braves in Atlanta back in May, scoring only five runs in the series.

That was so long ago that Pete Crow-Armstrong batted ninth, eighth and ninth in the three games and Moisés Ballesteros was the starting catcher in the series opener.

Since that series ended the Cubs are 55-51 and the Braves 58-48, only three games apart. Now both teams are trying to nail down postseason positions, the Braves the NL East title and the Cubs the first wild card spot.

For more on the Braves, here’s Demetrius Bell, manager of our SB Nation Braves site Battery Power.

The last time these two teams squared off, everybody invested in the Braves was hoping that what they’d seen from this team over the first month-and-a-half of the season was legit. Here we are in September and the Braves have a very tight grip on the NL East lead and they’re still fighting for the second seed in the National League, so I’d say that this team has proven to be legit.

With that being said, this definitely hasn’t been the type of season where the team simply puts it in cruise control and waits for October. The Braves had an awful malaise in June that nearly caused them to lose their divisional lead and a lot of that was due to the fact that the offense suffered a sustained and collective slump. Obviously they’ve recovered since then but the consistency of Atlanta’s offense is still a reasonable concern — they’ve only had a 90 wRC+ as a team since the start of August and that wRC+ goes down to 68 when it comes to their performance on the road.

I’m not anticipating the Braves to score a ton of runs during this series, though it would be cool to see Ronald Acuña Jr. keep up the fiery pace that he’s been on in recent times. Matt Olson has been slumping lately but he had a strong series against the Phillies and he could play a big factor as well. Michael Harris II has been consistent all season so if there’s anybody who could be relied upon to at least keep the line going, it’s him. Mauricio Dubón has essentially been a veritable Swiss army knife for the Braves this season and it wouldn’t be all that surprising if he played a big role in any success that the Braves have in Chicago this week.

The strength of this team is the pitching. Despite the fact that it’s felt like the rotation has constantly been in flux this season, the pitching staff has still managed to get it done at a very high level. A lot of that has essentially come down to the bullpen for Atlanta being excellent as well. For most of the season, it’s basically been a case of Atlanta hoping that whoever is starting for them can give them six innings and keep them in the game since the opposing team will usually be kept quiet from the seventh inning onwards. While Dylan Lee has been slowing down a bit lately, guys like Didier Fuentes, Dylan Dodd, Victor Mederos, Brent Suter and Ray Kerr have really been effective coming out of the ‘pen lately. Raisel Iglesias is prone to an adventure or two but usually he’s able to bring things home for the Braves in the end when it comes to saves.

Basically, if the Braves can keep things relatively low-scoring then I like their chances. If they’re unable to keep the Cubs quiet, I don’t like their chances in a slugfest. It should be fun to see how it goes!

The last time these two teams squared off, everybody invested in the Braves was hoping that what they’d seen from this team over the first month-and-a-half of the season was legit. Here we are in September and the Braves have a very tight grip on the NL East lead and they’re still fighting for the second seed in the National League, so I’d say that this team has proven to be legit.

With that being said, this definitely hasn’t been the type of season where the team simply puts it in cruise control and waits for October. The Braves had an awful malaise in June that nearly caused them to lose their divisional lead and a lot of that was due to the fact that the offense suffered a sustained and collective slump. Obviously they’ve recovered since then but the consistency of Atlanta’s offense is still a reasonable concern — they’ve only had a 90 wRC+ as a team since the start of August and that wRC+ goes down to 68 when it comes to their performance on the road.

I’m not anticipating the Braves to score a ton of runs during this series, though it would be cool to see Ronald Acuña Jr. keep up the fiery pace that he’s been on in recent times. Matt Olson has been slumping lately but he had a strong series against the Phillies and he could play a big factor as well. Michael Harris II has been consistent all season so if there’s anybody who could be relied upon to at least keep the line going, it’s him. Mauricio Dubón has essentially been a veritable Swiss army knife for the Braves this season and it wouldn’t be all that surprising if he played a big role in any success that the Braves have in Chicago this week.

The strength of this team is the pitching. Despite the fact that it’s felt like the rotation has constantly been in flux this season, the pitching staff has still managed to get it done at a very high level. A lot of that has essentially come down to the bullpen for Atlanta being excellent as well. For most of the season, it’s basically been a case of Atlanta hoping that whoever is starting for them can give them six innings and keep them in the game since the opposing team will usually be kept quiet from the seventh inning onwards. While Dylan Lee has been slowing down a bit lately, guys like Didier Fuentes, Dylan Dodd, Victor Mederos, Brent Suter and Ray Kerr have really been effective coming out of the ‘pen lately. Raisel Iglesias is prone to an adventure or two but usually he’s able to bring things home for the Braves in the end when it comes to saves.

Basically, if the Braves can keep things relatively low-scoring then I like their chances. If they’re unable to keep the Cubs quiet, I don’t like their chances in a slugfest. It should be fun to see how it goes!

The Cubs dropped two of three games when the teams met at Atlanta on May 12-14, losing by 5-2 and 4-1 before winning, 2-0.

The Cubs won their next game the next night, 10-5 over the White Sox on the South Side, then lost 10 in a row.

The Cubs’ 4-3 win over the Braves at Wrigley Field on Sept. 2 of last year was their 700th at home in the ancient rivalry, against only 466 losses. That .600 winning percentage is the Cubs’ best against any current team that they have hosted in more than 26 games.

Neither team has swept a series at Wrigley since the Cubs won four straight in 2015. They won three in 2017, then lost the fourth. They won two, then lost, in 2022 and last year.

The Braves’ last sweep at Wrigley was in 2006. This will be the 19th series between the teams on the North Side since then.

Monday: David Peterson, LHP (4-2, 4.41 ERA, 1.500 WHIP, 4.46 FIP in 13 games with Cubs; 7-8, 5.28 ERA, 1.576 WHIP, 4.15 FIP in 29 games overall) vs. Reynaldo Lopez, RHP (4-4, 4.13 ERA, 1.389 WHIP, 4.41 FIP)

Tuesday: Kevin Gausman, RHP (4-2, 5.31 ERA, 1.282 WHIP, 4.62 FIP in seven starts with Cubs; 9-12, 4.60 ERA, 1.287 WHIP, 3.77 FIP in 30 starts overall) vs. Martin Perez, LHP (8-9, 3.08 ERA, 1.246 WHIP, 4.24 FIP)

Wednesday: Shōta Imanaga, LHP (10-10, 3.88 ERA, 1.121 WHIP, 4.70 FIP) vs. TBD

Monday: 6:40 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network, MLB Network (outside the Cubs and Braves market territories)

Tuesday: 6:40 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network, TBS (outside the Cubs and Braves market territories)

Wednesday: 6:40 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network

On paper these pitching matchups don’t look great, but I think the Cubs will rise to the occasion and take two of three.

The Cubs have Thursday off, then play a one-series, three-game road trip at Great American Ballpark against the Cincinnati Reds beginning Friday evening.