The Atlanta Braves will be facing off against the Washington Nationals tonight in a battle of two of top three offenses in MLB right now in terms of runs scored per game. The Braves are scoring 5.55 runs per game and the Nats are scoring 5.50.
This matchup will feature five hitters in the top thirty in the NL in wRC+. CJ Abrams in currently number two in the NL with Michael Harris rounding out the top thirty.
With the Nats’ starter Jake Irvin being a RHP, it could be assumed that we will see a lineup
that features the red hot Dom Smith, but what we did not know for certain is if Walt Weiss will be resting any of the starters. He has been doing that this season seemingly more than Brian Snitker did.
We knew Matt Olson would not be sitting, but he has struggled against Irvin in his sixteen at-bats with a .188 average and .610 OPS. Dominic Smith has a .333 average against Irvin in his six at-bats, but only a .666 OPS. The player to keep an eye on is Michael Harris who leads the team with eighteen at-bats against Irvin and has been successful. He has a .389 average and .950 OPS against him.
It turns out that Mauricio Dubón will be getting the night off as Jorge Mateo will be getting the nod at SS. We also have some other movements of note. Mike Yastrzemski has been moved down to ninth while he is waiting to get into a groove, and red hot Michael Harris has been moved up to sixth in the lineup. It is nice to see that Walt Weiss is not stuck on a certain lineup and will play the hot hand and move certain players around.
For the Nationals, CJ Abrams has had no trouble against Bryce Elder in his career. In his fifteen at-bats against him, he has a .400 average and .905 OPS. In fact, five of the seven players to have faced Elder before have an OPS of .800 or better. The difference is this is arguably the best version of Bryce Elder we have ever seen.
The Nationals red hot offense will be a real test to see if Elder is for real. Every pitcher has an off night every once in awhile. We saw it with Chris Sale recently. But, Elder could also prove tonight that he can slow down a potent lineup. The key will be slowing down Abrams and James Wood, who has hit a HR off of Elder already in his young career.
First pitch is at 6:45 EDT.
