Atlanta Braves vs Athletics Prediction & Picks - MLB

Prediction published on 3/31/26, 3:16 PM  by Bill Christy | Modified on 4/1/26 at 10:38 AM in MLB Picks

The Athletics are a team without a true home and have begun the 2025-2026 season in a very homeless fashion. They are 0-4 after being swept by Toronto in the opening series and losing game one of this series against the Atlanta Braves. As a team, they are batting a woeful .170, which is 29th in the league, and have an on-base percentage of just .222, which is 30th in the league. It has not just been the hitting that has struggled either. Starters for the Athletics have combined to allow 12 runs over 18.2 innings.

Their opponents tonight, the Atlanta Braves, have been off to a much better start to their season. The team’s .279 batting average is good enough to rank 4th in the league, and the .450 slugging percentage is also 4th in the league. Over their 1st four games of the season, the Braves have allowed just a total of 6 runs. Of those 6 runs, the bullpen accounted for just 2. Right now, if you can not get to the starter, this Braves bullpen has been tough to touch.

Aaron Civale will start for the Athletics tonight. Civale is coming off a season where he pitched for 3 different teams and finished with a 4.85 ERA. He will be opposed by Jose Suarez, who has pitched mainly in relief but is coming off a solid short season last with Atlanta. He pitched just 19.1 innings, but his 1.86 ERA was impressive.