The Week Ahead for Atlanta: The scoring better continue for the Braves this week

**April 20-23: Washington Nationals**

***Current Record:** 10-12 **Projected Record** **(via FanGraphs):** 69-93* *(We’re now using up-to-date standings since the Braves are finally into repeat opponent territory starting this week)* Well this’ll certainly be an interesting series! The Nationals might be under .500 like the rest of the NL East but it’s not for lack of trying at the plate! While Atlanta has been cooking at the plate to the tune of a team wRC+ of 122 (tied for second in all of baseball with the Astros but 16 points behind the Dodgers for first place because of course), the Nationals aren’t that far behind with a team wRC+ of 109. A lot of that has to do with the fact that Michael Harris II’s good buddy CJ Abrams has been very dangerous at the plate so far — he’s hitting .320/.429/.600 with a 182 wRC+, six home runs and a .443 wOBA across 91 plate appearances and 21 games.

April 24-26: Philadelphia Phillies

***Current Record:** 8-13 **Projected Record:** 84-78* Assuming they don’t get right this week against the Cubs, the Phillies might be really hating baseball life by the time the get to Atlanta. The sweep they suffered at the hands of the Braves is now part of a five-game losing streak and a 2-8 stretch. If it wasn’t for the Mets being completely dreadful for two weeks now, the Phillies would be at the bottom of the NL right now. Instead, they’re next to the bottom and currently looking up at the Colorado Rockies in the NL standings. Are they going to be trailing the Rockies for much longer? Probably to but it’s still funny to see! Either way, we just got done seeing Philadelphia and the problem is clear: They are doing some serious scuffling at the plate. They’re currently bottom-five as a team in the National League when it comes to team wRC+ (88) and outside of Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber, this lineup isn’t providing the type of production that we’re used to seeing from them and subsequently being annoyed by. Again there are some potential big boppers in this lineup so I don’t think that they’re going to stay down like this for a lot longer but I’m sure the Braves would appreciate it if they continued to scuffle while making their visit to Truist Park this weekend. Atlanta will also be getting a bit of a break due to the Phillies’ visit to Wrigley Field being a four-gamer as well. Cristopher Sánchez is currently set to start the series finale in Chicago, which means the Braves will avoid get to avoid him this weekend. There is a chance that Zack Wheeler could return to the Phillies rotation just in time to see the Braves but if not, they’ll likely get another dose of Andrew Painter. On top of that, Atlanta will still have to deal with the tricky propositions of Jesús Luzardo and Aaron Nola on the weekend — Luzardo has been a tough customer for the Braves to deal with since his time with the Marlins and I think we’re all too well acquainted with Nola at this point in his career.