Braves continue to cruise, start stretch of 7 straight games vs. NL East foes

Another week of winning baseball in the books, another tricky week ahead.

The Braves (32-15) begin a stretch of seven straight games against NL East opponents Monday (part of 13 games in 13 straight days) when they open a four-game set against the Marlins (21-26) at loanDepot Park in Miami.

This week’s narrative won’t be so much about Atlanta’s competition, but rather how the Braves navigate the stretch from a pitching and personnel standpoint.

Outfielder Eli White’s stint on the seven-day injured list ended Sunday, making him eligible to return to the active roster Monday. White suffered a concussion May 10 in Los Angeles.

Fellow outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. (hamstring) is nearing his return as well, although manager Walt Weiss hinted Sunday the Braves might wait until the weekend to activate Acuña so he can avoid playing on the turf field in Miami.

The return of either White or Acuña (or both) likely means outfielder José Azócar’s time with the big-league club is fading. Azócar has five hits in 11 at-bats since rejoining the team May 12. He also made a diving catch to rob a hit during Sunday’s win against the Red Sox.

Azócar’s contributions continued a trend of Braves roster additions who have chipped in no matter how much playing time they have been afforded or how short their tenure is with the club. Shortstop Jim Jarvis and catchers Jonah Heim and Sandy León are just a few of the position players who have filled in and not missed a beat during this early part of the season.

“I think there’s multiple factors there,” Weiss said. “I do think that you got a good thing going, you got a good clubhouse, good culture. It tends to raise the bar for whoever comes into the room. And it’s always been that way here in Atlanta. They seem to get the best version of players when they come through here. I think there’s some truth to that.

“And, you know, tip your cap to the guys that are doing it. They’re the ones out there performing.”

From a pitching perspective, the Braves had hoped to have Martín Pérez start Monday’s game, a plan Weiss announced Friday. But after the Braves’ best bullpen arms pitched later that night, Pérez was squeezed into action and threw a scoreless inning during Saturday’s 3-2 loss.

That pushed Pérez back to Tuesday’s game and put rookie JR Ritchie on the mound Monday. Ritchie will be on regular rest ahead of his fifth MLB start.

Chris Sale is penciled in to start Wednesday’s game and Spencer Strider is on the docket for Thursday. Didier Fuentes and Reynaldo López remain in the bullpen as long-relief options. Grant Holmes, who started Sunday’s win and threw six innings, has been a bullpen option already this season as well. And reliever Dylan Dodd, on a rehab assignment at Triple-A Gwinnett, threw three innings of relief as recently as Thursday.

Weiss said he doesn’t perceive having Fuentes and López, former starting pitchers residing in the bullpen, as a hindrance in times when the Braves have used their high-leverage arms to secure wins early in a series.

“It’s a product of winning a lot of games and winning a lot of close games. Then when you use the back end of your pen, you can only do it so often. Then these guys need a reset,” Weiss said Saturday. “But no, I don’t think that’s hamstringing us. Like (Sunday), we have (López) for multiple innings. It’s nice to have a couple guys down there that can do that. I don’t think it’s working against us right now. I think I’ve showed I go to our (back-end) guys because they’ve been flawless, really.”

Atlanta begins the week with an eight-game lead on the Phillies (24-23) in the NL East. The Nationals (23-24), who come to Truist Park for a three-game series beginning Friday, are nine back.

The Braves lead MLB in hits (426), RBIs (245), average (.265), slugging (.444) and run differential (+98), and are second in runs scored (250), OPS (.772) and home runs (66). The pitching staff has baseball’s best ERA (2.94) and batting average against (.206), and second-best WHIP (1.13).

If all the success out of the gate has caught the rest of the league off guard, or even the team’s diehard fans by surprise, the players in the clubhouse making it happen are just meeting their own expectations.