The Atlanta Braves want to complete a four-game series sweep as they play the San Francisco Giants in the penultimate game. The offensive performance of the Braves has been a major factor in their victories in these games.
The Braves’ offense was very effective yesterday, as they hit four home runs, including Michael Harris’ welcome return grand slam.
Now that Michael Harris is back, the Braves should have a rejuvenated outfield that can win games for weeks to come. The optimum lineup appears to be Adam Duvall versus lefties, Michael Harris, Jarred Kelenic, and Jorge Soler (when healthy). However, Duvall did not start the previous time the Braves faced a lefty.
In his eight at-bats against Giants starter Logan Webb, Kelenic has performed admirably. Duvall has a.222 average and a.555 OPS against him thus far, while he has a.333 average and an OPS of.833 against him. Even with a fully healthy outfield, it only makes logical that Kelenic would receive the start this afternoon because Duvall has had trouble against righties all season and Kelenic has performed well against Webb.
Considering the caliber of pitcher Webb is, the majority of Braves players on the roster—aside from Arcia and Laureano—have performed well against him in the past. Ten players have an OPS above.542, while five players have an OPS above.675.
In eight at-bats, Harris has a.625 average and 1.875 OPS, perhaps the most success of any player. Matt Olson, who has nineteen at-bats and a.907 OPS, has also had success.
Therefore, who would play outfield and where they will hit in the order were probably the biggest unknowns prior to the publication of the lineup. Jorge Soler had tight hamstrings yesterday, so he had to leave the game. Whether Murphy or d’Arnaud will start is another unanswered question. Murphy, who started the game yesterday and homered, is batting.143 with an OPS of.543 against Webb, while d’Arnaud is batting.154 with an OPS of.676 against him.
There is an answer to these queries.
Travis d’Arnaud will get the start behind the dish as Harris moves up to the leadoff position as a result of Soler’s apparent hamstring injury keeping him out of the lineup. Laureano will be in RF and Kelenic in LF.
All of the other players have struggled against Fried, with the exception of Mark Canha, who has a 1.171 OPS against him. With the exception of Canha, no player on the team has an OPS higher than.533 against Fried.
For obvious reasons—given his performance against Fried tonight—Canha will start ahead of Wade Jr. Conforto is also not playing tonight after struggling to a.095 average in twenty-one at-bats against Fried.
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