Braves Report: The people’s Rookie of the Year

The Braves handed the Giants their sixth straight loss last night.

Seven would be even better. Right guys?

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP

📺 How to watch: First pitch of Game 2 arrives at 7:15 p.m. on FanDuel Sports. And at Truist Park.

⚾ The starting pitchers: Davis Daniel (0-0, 1.80 ERA) vs. Landen Roupp (6-6, 3.27)

📝 The scouting report: Roupp, a 26-year-old righty, is in his first full season as a major league starter for San Francisco — and as you can see above, he’s been pretty good. He’s primarily a sinker/curveball guy, with the former topping out around 93 mph.

Daniel is another member of the Braves rotation mop-up crew. He pitched July 13 against the Cardinals and gave up one earned run over four innings

⏰ Programming note: Wednesday’s series finale starts at 12:15 p.m. So look out for the Braves Report *after* the game.

FOR GOODNESS DRAKE

Credit: Mike Stewart/AP

Credit: Mike Stewart/AP

Drake Baldwin had six RBIs in last night’s win over the Giants. That was the most by a Braves rookie since Kelly Johnson in 2005 — and one shy of the record set by Wes Helms in 2001.

Baldwin’s current statline includes a .290 average (second on the team behind Ronald Acuña Jr.), 11 home runs and 39 RBIs. His OPS of .846 would be the Braves’ second-best, if he had enough at-bats to qualify.

“He’s above his level of experience,” manager Brian Snitker said. “The makeup and the baseball awareness and feel that he has is going to benefit him for a long, long time.”

Baldwin said playing just about every day lately helps, too.

But where does he stand in the National League Rookie of the Year race?

📈 The betting odds differ slightly from place to place. But Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski — who has started just five major league games — is generally framed as the favorite at this point.

📈 That basically means a $100 bet on Baldwin would net $300, should he win.

📈 Other likely candidates include Marlins catcher Agustin Ramirez (who’s hitting .241 with 14 homers and 44 RBIs) and Dodgers second baseman Hyeseong Kim (.320 average in 52 games, but not a lot of pop).

📈 Ramirez and Kim’s odds are currently 10-1 and 14-1, respectively.

That means it’s essentially a two-man race between Baldwin and Misiorowski.

The Miz, as they call him, is the lanky righty who threw a 98 mph *slider* during the All-Star Game. He’s a phenom and an internet sensation with a 2.81 ERA. In the few minutes I chatted with him during last week’s festivities, he came off as a genuinely good kid.

If the Brewers keep their current run of success going, that might help his case, too.

But we still love the Drake.

THERE HE GOES AGAIN

Can you run 270 feet or so in just over 10 seconds?

Ronald Acuña Jr. can.

He did it just last night, blowing through third base coach Fredi Gonzalez’s stop sign to score from first on an otherwise routine single to the outfield (off the bat of Baldwin, of course).

“My objective every time I get on base is to find a way to score no matter what,” Acuña said. “And, right away, when I stepped on second, I was looking out at the outfield, and I noticed that the center fielder was kind of far back. By that point, I knew already that I was gonna go for it.”

Video here. He’s so much fun to watch.

RIVAL WATCH

The Braves are 44-55 and in fourth place in the National League East. Let’s check in with the rest of the division.

🔔 The Phillies (57-43) beat the Red Sox last night … on a walk-off catcher’s interference. The bases were loaded when Boston catcher Carlos Narvaez stuck his glove out juuust far enough to make contact with the bat of Philly’s Edmundo Sosa. That apparently hadn’t happened since 1971.

🚽 The Mets (57-44) summoned catcher Francisco Alvarez back from the minors, where he’d spent a month trying to get himself together. It seems to have worked.

🎣 The Marlins (46-53) do not intend to part with stud outfielder Kyle Stowers before next week’s trade deadline.

🪰 The Nationals (40-60) officially signed Eli Willits, the high school shortstop they drafted No. 1 overall last week in Atlanta. He’s 17 and wants to be in the bigs by the time he’s 20.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Credit: Mike Stewart/AP

Credit: Mike Stewart/AP

The moment Marcell Ozuna realized he’s definitely not getting that designated hitter role back.

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Until next time.