Grant Holmes Returns Tuesday as Braves Face Cubs — Pete Crow Armstrong
Grant Holmes is scheduled to take the ball Tuesday for the Braves against the Cubs at Truist Park after 10 days off, giving Atlanta a needed reset point in a tight series. The move comes with the Braves one game ahead of Chicago in the race for the best record in baseball.
Holmes Gets the Ball Tuesday
Holmes has not pitched since May 1 against the Rockies, when he allowed six runs and five earned runs on seven hits in Denver. Atlanta still rallied to beat Colorado 8-6 that day, but his line left his recent workload in question until this restart.
The right-hander has made seven starts this season and carries a 4.34 ERA with a 1.31 WHIP. His best outing came April 3 at Arizona, where he worked six scoreless innings and allowed one hit.
Braves Rotation Against Chicago
The Braves skipped Holmes’ rotation spot last week in Seattle and Los Angeles. Manager Walt Weiss said Holmes was available in the bullpen in a pinch against the Dodgers, which shows how Atlanta has been managing him while keeping the rotation moving.
Atlanta has been leaning on a four-man rotation with Chris Sale, Spencer Strider, Bryce Elder and JR Ritchie, while Holmes and Martín Pérez have worked as swingmen. Reynaldo López and Didier Fuentes have stayed in the bullpen as long relief options, and the structure has been part of a staff that has posted a 3.03 ERA and held opponents to a.206 average.
Ritchie and Sale Follow
JR Ritchie is scheduled to make his fourth MLB start Wednesday after allowing seven earned runs in 17⅓ innings. His last outing came May 4 in Seattle, when he walked six in five innings during a 5-4 Braves loss, a reminder that Atlanta’s younger arms are still being tested in the same stretch as Holmes’ return.
Sale is set for Thursday against the Cubs. He is 6-2 with a 2.20 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 49 innings, so the series lines up with Atlanta’s best available stretch of starters while Chicago arrives one game behind the Braves for the best record in baseball.
