Atlanta Braves vs Boston Red Sox Prediction, 8/31/2020 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Atlanta Braves vs Boston Red Sox

Date: Monday, August 31, 2020

Location: Fenway Park in Boston, MA

TV: NESN/FSSE

Odds/Point Spread: Braves (-185) Red Sox (+160)

Fenway Park is the venue where Xander Bogaerts and the Boston Red Sox (11-22, 5th in AL East) will play the Atlanta Braves (18-14, 1st in NL East) on Monday. The Braves open this game at -185 while the Red Sox are coming in at +160. The over/under is set at 9.5. The pitchers taking the mound are Max Fried and Colten Brewer.

Key Atlanta Braves Injuries

8/28/2020 Cole Hamels SP Triceps Expected to be out until at least Sep 15
8/28/2020 Ozzie Albies 2B Wrist Expected to be out until at least Sep 4
8/27/2020 Mike Soroka SP Achilles Out for the season
7/21/2020 Phil Pfeifer RP Elbow Expected to be out until at least Sep 4
7/21/2020 Jacob Webb RP Shoulder Expected to be out until at least Sep 4
6/26/2020 Jeremy Walker RP Shoulder Expected to be out until at least Sep 1

Key Boston Red Sox Injuries

8/29/2020 Nathan Eovaldi SP Calf Expected to be out until at least Sep 5
8/29/2020 Martin Perez SP Finger Expected to be out until at least Sep 2
8/28/2020 Andrew Benintendi LF Ribs Expected to be out until at least Sep 16
8/1/2020 Eduardo Rodriguez SP Illness Out for the season
7/7/2020 Dustin Pedroia 2B Knee Expected to be out until at least Sep 1
6/28/2020 Chris Sale SP Elbow Out for the season

Useful Pitching Statistics

The Braves have a 18-14 overall record this season. Fried has taken the hill for 265 frames and has accounted for 277 strikeouts during his MLB career. His ERA is 3.46 (102 earned runs allowed) and his career WHIP is 1.309. He has surrendered 256 hits (8.7 hits per 9 innings) and has 91 free passes. Fried (24-11 career win-loss record) has a FIP of 3.61 while facing 1,118 opposing hitters during his time in the major leagues. The bullpen has an earned run average of 3.20 and they have given up 120 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .206 against the bullpen and they've struck out 141 hitters and walked 49 batters. As a team, Atlanta allows 7.9 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.5 batters per nine innings. They are 10th in the league in team earned run average at 4.18. The Braves pitchers collectively have given up 241 base hits and 127 earned runs. They have allowed 37 home runs this season, ranking them 24th in the league. Atlanta as a pitching staff has walked 117 batters and struck out 259. They have walked 3.8 men per 9 innings while striking out 8.5 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 1.31 and their FIP as a unit is 4.52.

Related: Get MLB predictions on all of today's games

Hitting Statistics

As a team Atlanta is hitting .254, good for 9th in the league. The Braves hold a .448 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .321, which is good for 17th in baseball. They rank 11th in MLB with 8.5 hits per game. Freddie Freeman is hitting .306 with an on-base percentage of .417. He has 34 hits this season in 111 at bats with 19 runs batted in. He has a slugging percentage of .559 and an OPS+ of 156. Dansby Swanson is hitting .307 this year and he has an on-base percentage of .343. He has totaled 39 hits and he has driven in 18 men in 127 at bats. His OPS+ is 116 while his slugging percentage is at .480. The Braves have 272 hits, including 70 doubles and 45 home runs. Atlanta has walked 99 times so far this season and they have struck out 314 times as a unit. They have left 206 men on base and have a team OPS of .769. They score 4.91 runs per contest and have scored a total of 157 runs this year.

Useful Pitching Statistics

Boston has a 11-22 overall mark this year. Brewer (2-4 career mark) is the owner of a 4.40 earned run average and has conceded 10.2 hits per nine innings. His strikeout to walk ratio is 1.57 and he has gone up against 402 opposing hitters in his MLB career. Thus far in his career, Brewer has surrendered 97 hits while he has tallied 83 punchouts in 86 innings pitched. He has allowed a total of 42 ER's while earning a WHIP of 1.744 and a FIP of 4.9. The bullpen has an earned run average of 5.54 and they have given up 173 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .243 against the Red Sox bullpen. Their relievers have struck out 170 batters and walked 71 opposing hitters. As a team, Boston allows 10.4 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.7 batters per nine innings. They are 30th in the league in team earned run average at 6.08. The Red Sox pitchers as a team have surrendered 331 base knocks and 194 earned runs this season. They have given up 55 home runs this year, which ranks 2nd in Major League Baseball. Boston as a staff has walked 139 hitters and struck out 279 batters. They give up a walk 4.4 times per 9 innings while they strike out 8.7 per 9. Their team WHIP is 1.64 while their FIP as a staff is 5.30.

Hitting Statistics

As a team, they are batting .253, good for 10th in the league. The Red Sox hold a .424 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .316, which is good for 21st in baseball. They rank 6th in MLB with 8.7 hits per contest. Xander Bogaerts comes into this matchup batting .295 with an OBP of .355. He has 33 hits this year along with 20 RBI in 112 AB's. He maintains a slugging percentage of .545 with an OPS+ of 135. J.D. Martinez is hitting .207 this season and he has an OBP of .295. He has collected 24 hits in 116 at bats while driving in 15 runs. He has an OPS+ of 76 and a slugging percentage of .371. The Red Sox as a unit have 287 base hits, including 65 doubles and 39 homers. Boston has walked 95 times this year and they have struck out on 295 occasions. They have had 216 men left on base and have an OPS of .740. They have scored 4.55 runs per game and totaled 150 runs this season.

Who will win tonight's Braves/Red Sox MLB game against the spread?

Josh's Pick: Take the Red Sox (+160)

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