We’re in September, the season’s winding down. The Braves are still bad, but not that bad — they’re not even the worst team in baseball coming into play tonight.
But, that may not do much for tonight’s game, as Joel de la Cruz once again takes the hill. A career minor leaguer until this year, de la Cruz has been pretty much as expected this season: a replacement-level pitcher, or thereabouts. His 4.66 ERA, 5.34 FIP, and 5.17 xFIP are about as pedestrian as you can get, especially if the pedestrian ends up being hit by a car that swerves onto the sidewalk.