(Photo credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images)

The last time the Atlanta Braves missed the playoffs, Ronald Acuna Jr. was 19 years old, starting that year with the Florida Fire Frogs of the high Class-A Florida State League.

The last time the Braves missed the playoffs, R.A. Dickey led them in innings pitched. He is now 50 years old and out of baseball.

Translation: It's been a long time since 2017, when the Braves finished 72-90.

Sitting at 59-72, the Braves, who are set to face the host Miami Marlins again on Tuesday for the middle game of a three-game series, have just a 0.3 percent chance to make this year's playoffs, according to Baseball Reference.

Atlanta's projected rotation coming into this season has been blown up by injuries, including the loss for the past two months of Chris Sale, the National League's 2024 Cy Young Award winner.

However, there is perhaps a glimmer of hope for the Braves given that Sale is expected to return on Saturday.

In addition, rookie right-hander Hurston Waldrep (4-0, 0.73 ERA) -- who will start Tuesday against Miami -- has been brilliant since his Aug. 2 callup.

'I can't wait to get (Sale) back,' Braves manager Brian Snitker said on Sunday, 'especially with the way Hurston has been pitching.'

Waldrep has made one career start against Miami, beating the Marlins 7-1 on Aug. 9. In six-plus innings, he allowed four hits, one walk and one run while striking out six.

A 23-year-old native of Georgia, Waldrep was undrafted out of high school but became Atlanta's first-rounder in 2023 (No. 24 overall) after a successful college career (Southern Miss and then Florida). MLB.com lists him as Atlanta's seventh-best prospect with three above-average pitches. In order of best pitch, those would be his splitter, fastball (up to 99 mph but flat at times) and slider.

The Marlins will counter Waldrep with right-hander Sandy Alcantara, who is 5-5 with a 3.36 ERA in 15 career starts against Atlanta. He two meetings this year, Alcantara got a home win on June 22 (three runs in six innings) and took a road loss on Aug. 9 (five runs in five innings).

Alcantara (7-11, 6.04 ERA) was the NL's Cy Young Award-winner in 2022 but has largely struggled after missing last season following Tommy John surgery.

However, he has improved since pitching to an 8.31 ERA in March/April and an 8.64 ERA in May. Over the past three months, his ERA has been under 4.70 each time, and he has allowed just two earned runs over his past two starts totaling 13 innings.

Alcantara's home run rate of 1.1 per nine innings matchest his highest since arriving in Miami in 2018.

The Marlins have lost six straight series. But even with that, third-place Miami is still three games ahead of fourth-place Atlanta in the National League East.

That's surprising given the fact that the Marlins have the lowest payroll in the majors at $66 million and their lone All-Star, left fielder Kyle Stowers, is out at least two more weeks due to an oblique strain.

The Braves, meanwhile, have a payroll of $215 million. In fact, the salaries of Sale, third baseman Austin Riley and first baseman Matt Olson are about as much as Miami's entire roster.

Even so, Miami beat Atlanta 2-1 on Monday thanks to an RBI double by Troy Johnston and a homer by Maximo Acosta.

Of Acosta's first three big-league hits over his first six games, all are homers.

'I hope he never hits anything else,' Johnston said with a big smile following the Monday game. 'I hope he just hits home runs for the rest of his career.'

--Field Level Media