Reds at Braves, Game 3: Preview/Prediction Thread

The banged-up, battered, bruised, and bumming Reds look to avoid a sweep this afternoon at Turner Field against the Atlanta Braves. With the injuries sustained to regulars Devin Mesoraco and Todd Frazier on Friday night, you could argue that this is perhaps the worst time for the Reds to face a team whose rotation has the best ERA in baseball. In fact, I'm pretty sure you'd win that argument.

Despite this fact, Todd Frazier will make a start today despite reports of continuing leg tightness. Meanwhile, Brayan Pena will once again assume the role of catcher to Johnny Cueto. In fact, it appears that Pena is now Cueto's personal catcher; having caught Cueto's last two fantastic starts. Thanks in part to Cueto's ability to go deep into games, the Reds' bullpen has thrown the least amount of pitches in all of baseball.

The Braves will trot out Julio Teheran who, like the rest of the BARVES' starters, has been dominant to start 2014. In his second full year as a starter, Teheran has a 1.80 ERA and a 2-1 record in 5 starts. While Teheran isn't necessarily a strikeout machine (5.4 K/9 this year), he has steadily improved from the beginning of last year into one of the more consistent arms in the Braves rotation. Teheran's one start against the Reds in 2013 resulted in a win for the good guys, with Teheran lasting only 5.1 innings and giving up 5 earned runs. Hopefully, the Reds can grow on this success and get something out of their trip to Atlanta . . . other than some swell stories about The Clermont.

Go Reds!