Grant Holmes is scheduled to start Tuesday when the Braves open a three-game series against the Cubs at Truist Park, returning to the rotation after his turn was skipped in Seattle and Los Angeles. The move begins a busy stretch that will also send JR Ritchie to the mound Wednesday, Chris Sale on Thursday and Bryce Elder on Friday if he stays on regular rest, with Spencer Strider likely to make his third start of the season Saturday if Elder goes as planned.
For Holmes, the outing is a chance to steady a season that has moved in fits. He has not pitched since May 1 against the Rockies, when he allowed six runs, five earned, on seven hits in Denver and still watched Atlanta rally for an 8-6 win. That start was part of a run in which Holmes has made seven starts this season and carries a 4.34 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP, with only one outing in which he did not allow at least one run.
Walt Weiss did not hide the value he saw in that May 1 performance, even with the early damage. Holmes, he said then, stayed in the fight and ended up going five innings to keep the game within reach after a rough first inning. That is the type of response Atlanta needs now, because the club is trying to get through a compressed stretch while keeping its pitching order intact.
Holmes’ start comes with the Braves committed to a four-man rotation of Sale, Strider, Elder and Ritchie, while Holmes and Martín Pérez work as swingmen. Reynaldo López and Didier Fuentes have remained in the bullpen as long relief options, giving the team flexibility but also making each turn through the staff more complicated than a standard five-man setup.
The larger reason the schedule matters is that Atlanta’s starters have been the best in baseball by the numbers. They own a 3.03 ERA and have held opponents to a.206 average, both major league bests. Sale, who is lined up for Thursday, has been a key part of that start, posting a 2.20 ERA with 56 strikeouts in 49 innings over eight games. Strider’s return has also helped stabilize the group after he allowed one hit over six innings and struck out eight against the Dodgers this past Saturday.
Ritchie, meanwhile, will get his fourth MLB start Wednesday after allowing seven earned runs in 17 1/3 innings. He walked six in five innings in Seattle on May 4 in a 5-4 Braves loss, and he said afterward that he would have to go back and look at video to see what he was doing. He added that there could be any number of things behind the struggle, including trying too hard early on to be too fine instead of attacking hitters. That is the tension inside Atlanta’s current plan: the Braves have enough arms to keep winning, but they are also asking several pitchers to keep adjusting on the fly.
That makes Tuesday more than a routine start for Holmes. It is the first step in a week that will test how long Atlanta can keep threading the same needle — protecting a strong rotation, managing innings and getting enough length from pitchers whose roles can change from one series to the next.
