With the Atlanta Braves' rotation beset by early-season injuries, Dylan Dodd will make his major league debut on Tuesday.
His first assignment: facing the host St. Louis Cardinals in the middle game of a three-game series. The Braves defeated the Cardinals 8-4 on Monday for their third victory in four games to start the season.
"They're a good team and they got some unbelievable hitters," Dodd told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "But I'm super excited to go out there and compete against them."
Dodd is getting his chance with Max Fried sidelined due to a hamstring strain and Michael Soroka still working his way back from Achilles and hamstring injuries. The team added Dodd to the 40-man roster on Monday and sent left-hander Jared Shuster to Triple-A Gwinnett.
"I'm sure there's going to be a ton of emotion and jitters going out there, but I just have to continue to do what I do," Dodd said. "It's still the same game at the end of the day, and I just gotta trust my stuff and my ability and just go out there and compete."
Dodd was a third-round pick in the 2021 draft out of Southeast Missouri State.
"Honestly, I think I was kind of a late bloomer," Dodd said. "I didn't really grow into my body until later, and kind of moving into my junior year is kind of when I really saw that huge difference."
He spent the bulk of last season pitching at the high Class-A level before moving up to Double-A and reaching Triple-A for one start. He has a 3.87 ERA in 30 career minor league starts.
The Cardinals will counter with Steven Matz, who was 5-3 with a 5.25 ERA in 15 appearances last season, including 10 starts. First shoulder soreness sidelined him, then Matz sustained a knee injury on a fielding play.
He finished the season in the bullpen while continuing his comeback from the knee ailment. That was not how he expected the season to play out after signing as a free agent.
"You want to show the fans, you want to show the coaches, you want to show all these new faces what you can bring to the organization and the team," Matz told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "So for the year to go that way was extremely disappointing.
"But ultimately it's in the past. You learn from it. You learn how you can be better from those circumstances. I'm happy I'm feeling good this year."
Cardinals starting pitchers have lasted just 17 2/3 innings through the first four games.
"We need to get more and we will get more," St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said. "We trust our guys. These first four games, are they ideal? Not really. But do we feel our guys will be more than capable of doing what we are going to ask of them? Yes."
Matz is 6-3 with a 3.42 ERA in 15 career starts against the Braves. He has had the most trouble with Marcell Ozuna (7-for-22, double, homer, seven RBIs) and Austin Riley (2-for-7, double, homer).
The Cardinals placed outfielder Lars Nootbaar (jammed left thumb) on the injured list on Monday and recalled infielder/outfielder Juan Yepez from Triple-A Memphis.
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