Braves at Reds, Game 2 - Preview and Lineups

The 1st round of the 2015 MLB Draft was an interesting one for both the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves. Both opted to select high school talent with their prized selection, though there’s a bit of a thread connecting each pick.

The Reds selected catcher Tyler Stephenson with their pick, #11 overall, while the Braves turned to righty pitcher Mike Soroka with theirs at #28. Stephenson hails from Kennesaw, GA - suburban Atlanta - while Soroka is a native of Alberta, which just so happens to be part of Joey Vottoland. Game previews are the funnest, donchaknow?

Anyhoo, Soroka will be on the mound for Atlanta in Wednesday’s contest against the Reds, the 21 year old phenom a key cog already in the uber-young starting rotation the Braves have chosen to go with. In many ways, the fact that Atlanta has been willing to rush some of their extremely talented young arms to the bigs is how the Reds ended up with Lucas Sims, who while still just 24 years old just simply wasn’t ready early enough to stay atop the pecking order in Atlanta and therefore became an expendable 40-man roster piece when the Braves were looking to add pop just last year.

Cincinnati, meanwhile, will counter with veteran Tanner Roark in this series’ second game. Thicc Eric Bana has been a solid enough piece of this stout Reds rotation to date, though much like his stint with the Washington Nationals it feels as if he’s a bit of the forgotten man thanks to his talented peers.

First pitch is set for 6:40 PM ET.

Reds Lineup

Braves Lineup