Danny Young will open Sunday's game for Atlanta against the Cardinals, and the move sends him into his first MLB start. He is expected to work just an inning or two before handing the game to JR Ritchie, who is slated to handle the bulk relief work.
The plan matters now because it changes how Atlanta will cover the game from the first pitch. Young, who was reinstated on July 3 after a season-opening stint on the injured list, has already given the team a brief but workable stretch since returning. In four relief appearances since that date, he has struck out three while allowing one earned run on two hits and one walk across 3.1 innings.
That is the clearest clue to why he fits this role. Young is back on the roster and has shown enough in short outings to take the first turn, but the setup still keeps the workload light and shifts the heavier innings to Ritchie. In other words, this is less a traditional starter's job than a bridge into the rest of the day.
The odd part is that Young is being used as an opener even as he records his first MLB start, a combination that tells you how carefully Atlanta is managing the innings on Sunday. The club is not asking him to carry the game deep; it is asking him to begin it cleanly and leave after a frame or two with the score and the plan intact.
What happens next is straightforward: Young takes the ball first, and Ritchie is expected to follow in bulk relief. For Atlanta, the real question is not whether Young can open the game. It is how smoothly the handoff works once the first inning or two is over.
