Atlanta Braves vs. Milwaukee Brewers Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 5/16/2022

Time: 7:40 p.m. ET

Venue: American Family Field, Milwaukee, WI

Where to watch: Bally Sports South, Bally Sports Wisconsin

DraftKings: Check back later

BetMGM: Check back later

Caesars: Check back later

Braves: 16-19

Brewers: 22-13

There's still time to make things happen, but the Atlanta Braves are off to a championship hangover to begin their World Series title defense. And I think everyone should've expected that with Freddie Freeman finding greener pastures in Los Angeles.

But it's not like the Braves have been completely horrible. Just three games under .500 as we hit the midway point in May. Atlanta is coming off a 7-3 loss in 11 innings to the San Diego Padres on Sunday, losing the three-game series despite winning 6-5 the night before.

Atlanta was held to just five hits, but one of them came on a two-run home run from Dansby Swanson in the bottom of the fourth inning.

“Anything [Swanson] gets, he deserves,” said Atlanta starter Kyle Wright, who played with Swanson at Vanderbilt. “He works for it all. He’s a winner. He hates losing. Whenever we lose, he just seems to get after it. I feel like that’s when he steps up and continues to play better.”

Wright was very good for the Braves, going 6.1 innings, allowing just three hits while striking out nine. The 26-year-old is off to a 3-2 start and a 2.79 ERA.

“[Wright] has been pretty electric in multiple ways with multiple pitches,” Swanson said. “It’s a shame we couldn’t hold it down for the rest of the game for him. But he’s been great.”  

The Braves' youth is going to have their time one of these days. It's a group that has a strong rotation and bats that can open a game at any point. Right now, they're just trying to find their legs without their leader in the clubhouse. It'll be an interesting situation to watch.

I was so sold on the Milwaukee Brewers last season, and now I know that's a far cry from even resulting in something worth watching. Because I've never seen a team with so much talent look like it shouldn't belong at the top of the division.

And it certainly wasn't pretty. The Brewers found a way to take two of three over the Miami Marlins after winning 7-3 on Sunday. Jace Peterson and Kolten Wong went back-to-back in the 5th inning, with Rowdy Tellez also driving in two more.

The Brewers bats even drew six walks. Go figure.

“Not be over-aggressive,” Wong said, “because I feel like that's kind of been my Achilles' heel this year -- being too aggressive and not really being a leadoff guy that I should be. So [I was] just trying to work them a little more, be more selective and try to drive balls.”

“Honestly, when Jace did that it kind of just lit a spark in everybody,” Wong said. “When you have somebody that leads off with a good at-bat, you want to follow the same way. We both had good at-bats and, you know, sometimes that's what it takes to kind of get contagious.”

The Brewers can get things going with their pitching. But they need more outings like this with the bats. They can't go into the playoffs and hope the pitching carries them again. Plain and simple.

It's a rematch of last year's NLDS, and the Braves proved early on that the bats were going to dominate if they got going. Bats are struggling a little bit this time around with the Braves, so it wouldn't shock me to see Freddy Peralta have a solid outing on the mound. Brewers win 5-4

Check back later for trends.

Braves:
Travis Demeritte (R) RF
Matt Olson (L) 1B
Austin Riley (R) 3B
Marcell Ozuna (R) LF
Ozzie Albies (S) 2B
Dansby Swanson (R) SS
Adam Duvall (R) CF
William Contreras (R) C
Orlando Arcia (R) DH
SP - Ian Anderson

Brewers:
Kolten Wong (L) 2B
Willy Adames (R) SS
Christian Yelich (L) LF
Luis Urias (R) 3B
Rowdy Tellez (L) DH
Hunter Renfroe (R) RF
Omar Narvaez (L) C
Tyrone Taylor (R) CF
Jace Peterson (L) 1B
SP - Freddy Peralta

Batting average: Matt Olson -- .262

Hits: Matt Olson -- 34

Home runs: Austin Riley -- 7

RBI: Dansby Swanson -- 16

Wins: Max Fried -- 4

Saves: Kenley Jansen -- 8

ERA: Kyle Wright -- 2.79

Batting average: Kolten Wong -- .257

Hits: Christian Yelich -- 31

Home runs: Two tied -- 9

RBI: Rowdy Tellez -- 29

Wins: Brandon Woodruff -- 4

Saves: Josh Hader -- 13

ERA: Corbin Burnes -- 1.77