The Atlanta Braves head into PNC Park on Tuesday night with Hurston Waldrep getting the ball against Paul Skenes, a matchup that arrives after two straight losses and gives the Braves a quick read on where their newly returned starter stands. First pitch is set for 6:40 pm EDT.
For Waldrep, this is only his third appearance and second start of the season, and that alone makes the start easy to spot on the schedule. He has already worked 2.0 innings in relief, and now he gets a larger test against the reigning Cy Young Award winner.
That makes the game searchable for more than one reason. Waldrep is still trying to show he is fully good to go, while Skenes is coming in with a 3.62 ERA that looks less settled than his name value suggests. His 2.76 xERA points to a pitcher who may have been better than the earned runs say, not worse, and his 65.8 percent strand rate leaves room for some bad timing to have inflated the damage. Even his velocity has dipped, from a 97.4 MPH average fastball in April to 96.3 MPH so far in July.
The numbers around Waldrep are part of the appeal too. In his last start, he worked 5.1 innings and allowed five hits, one home run, three earned runs, one walk, one hit by pitch and four strikeouts, with all three runs coming in the first inning. In his lone relief outing, he threw 2.0 innings, issued four walks and did not allow a run. That is the shape of a pitcher still sorting out consistency, not one who has yet to finish the climb back to full game readiness.
Skenes, meanwhile, has had the kind of stretch that can make a front office look twice without changing the underlying picture. He gave up seven earned runs in 4.0 innings against the Phillies in the worst start of his career, then four earned runs in the start before that. But the Pirates have also scored the fourth most runs in MLB since the start of June and over the last two weeks, which means the right-hander is not being asked to carry the same burden alone. For Waldrep, that offense adds pressure to hold the game close while the Braves try to stop the slide. For Skenes, it means the headline is not just whether he looks sharper, but whether the results start matching the metrics again.
The first pitch at PNC Park is the next checkpoint, and it should tell the Braves more about Waldrep’s readiness than any bullpen session or rehab note can.
