Wandy Back: Bucs v Braves

Wandy Rodriguez is back on the hill after tweaking his leg in a short outing on April 8th. The lefty is 3-3/3.41 in a dozen starts against Atlanta. Good thing he's back, too. Since his absence, the Pirate staff has pretty much been AJ Burnett followed by opponent BP. Wandy will face Tim Hudson, who is going for his 200th career win tonight. If he gets it, he'll become the 110th pitcher to reach that milestone. The game is scheduled for a 7:05 start if the rain gods allow and will be aired on Root Sports (the hockey game was moved to tomorrow) and The Fan 93.7.

Pirate lineup: Jose Tabata LF, Travis Snider RF, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones 1B, Neil Walker 2B, Pedro Alvarez 3B, Russell Martin C, John McDonald SS and Wandy Rodriguez P.

Interesting lineup, with Starling Marte getting a blow after a 5-K game last night, and we can't disagree too much with Clint Hurdle's move. With all the RHP the Bucs have been seeing lately, it's as good an opp as any to get JT some at-bats today and again tomorrow against Paul Maholm. 

Brave lineup: BJ Upton CF, Jason Heyward RF, Justin Upton LF, Evan Gattis 1B, Chris Johnson 3B, Dan Uggla 2B, Andrelton Simmons SS, Gerald Laird C and Tim Hudson P.

Worked well enough last night; can't blame Freddi Gonzalez for sticking with it.

• Jeff Sullivan of Fangraphs examines the framework of Russell Martin. He likes it.
• The Braves have hit hit 29 homers in its first 15 games, the first NL team to come out of the box that hot since Cincinnati in 2006.
• Jameson Taillon comes in at #2 on Baseball America's first Hot Sheet of the season.