MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – AUGUST 22: Martín Pérez #33 of the Atlanta Braves pitches against the Milwaukee Brewers in the first inning at American Family Field on August 22, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Well after two electric series against the two best teams in the NL, the Braves have quite the drop-off in competition, facing the Rockies. They took care of business on Friday night behind Grant Holmes and will now hope for another win behind Martin Perez in what is a favorable pitching matchup for Atlanta, despite Perez’ unspectacular pitching.
Ryan Feltner will take the mound for the Rockies, with a 5.53 FIP and 4.98 xFIP on 97.2 innings this season. HE has never been a strikeout pitcher, but has found some success when he can limit walks. He is walking nearly 4 batters per 9 innings this season, so it has been a rough go for Feltner with less than 2 Ks per walk. He has most of his success on his changeup, which is a very vertical pitch without much horizontal run. His fastball has average velocity with below average shape and his slider is thrown pretty hard with fine movement. He mixes in a solid sweeper, a curve, and a sinker to round out his pitch mix. This is a guy that the Braves’ bats need to hit hard based on his profile. He doesn’t strike people out, he doesn’t have great command, and his ground ball rate isn’t anything special.
Meanwhile, Martin continues to get away with a 3.12 ERA with more predictive metrics in the low to mid 4s, now through 115.1 innings and in late August. His strikeout and walk rates look similar to Feltner’s, with a somewhat better ground ball rate, but he’s muddled through with some substantial fortune for productive innings in terms of run prevention for Atlanta. Even Martin’s location heatmap on his sinker and cutter are essentially scattered across the strike zone. It’s been a fortunate run for Martin and the Braves, but the Rockies are at least bad enough that it could very plausibly live another day. Now let’s see the Braves get him some run support.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Saturday, August 29, 4:10 p.m. ET
Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA
TV: BravesVision
Streaming: MLB.tv
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan, La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 AM