Opposites will attract Monday night when the red-hot Los Angeles Dodgers host the slow-starting Atlanta Braves in the opener of a three-game series.
The Dodgers have begun their World Series title defense with five victories in five games and have used just three starting pitchers to do it. And two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, who was added as a free agent in the offseason, has made just one of those starts.
Snell will pitch Wednesday in the finale of the series against the Braves, while right-hander Tyler Glasnow will make his 2025 debut when he takes the mound on Monday.
Glasnow (9-6, 3.49 ERA last season) was the Dodgers’ Opening Day starter a year ago but was bumped down the line as Japanese-born right-handers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki pitched in the opening series in Tokyo against the Chicago Cubs.
Glasnow, who has struggled with injuries throughout his career, missed the final 1 1/2 months of the 2024 regular season, plus the playoffs, with an elbow injury. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts eased Glasnow into the mix this year.
“I think it’s great. If I’m a No. 5 or No. 4 (starter), that means there’s a lot of really good pitchers on our team,” said Glasnow, who is 1-1 lifetime against the Braves in four starts, with a 2.38 ERA. “… Everyone (on the staff) is so competitive individually. You just want to go out there and pitch well.”
The Dodgers rallied from early deficits in each contest of their just-completed three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers, hitting nine home runs. Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts and Tommy Edman hit two each.
Betts’ two-homer game Friday came after he spent two weeks recovering from a stomach virus that caused him to lose nearly 20 pounds.
The Braves are feeling queasy after losing all four games of their season-opening road series against the San Diego Padres. Following their bus ride up the freeway, Atlanta is set to send right-hander Grant Holmes (2-1, 3.56 ERA last season) to the mound on Monday.
Holmes will make his first start of the season after making a one-inning relief appearance Thursday.
A Dodgers’ first-round draft pick in 2014, Holmes is not only on an Opening Day roster for the first time — he has never faced the Dodgers.
After 10 years in the minor leagues, Holmes made his major league debut last season and was a key contributor down the stretch, going 2-1 with a 3.56 ERA in 26 appearances (seven starts). He started the final game of the season, helping Atlanta into the playoffs.
“It just goes to show, if you believe in yourself and you just keep going, hopefully, a team will see the value that you have, that you’re going to bring to the table,” Braves pitching coach Rick Kranitz said, according to MLB.com. “Thank goodness we were the team that gave him the opportunity.”
The Braves’ offense struggled over the weekend, failing to score in the final two games of the series against the Padres and the last 22 innings going back to Friday.
The Braves had just one hit Sunday, a third-inning single from Orlando Arcia, while only four teams have fewer than their seven total runs in 2025.
–Field Level Media
