After a three-game absence, Ha-Seong Kim returns to the Braves lineup for Sunday afternoon’s series finale in Cincinnati.
Kim, who has struggled to generate momentum with a .095 batting average and no extra-base hits in 12 games and 42 at-bats after starting the season on the injured list, is getting another chance to break out after a breather of sorts to work out of his slump. He’ll hit eighth and play short.
That doesn’t come at the expense of Jorge Mateo sitting, however. Mateo, who has been filling
in for Kim, will be the designated hitter for the second time this week to keep his productive bat in the lineup. Mateo is 6-for-16 (.375) with four RBIs in the last four games and delivered his third homer in Saturday night’s win. He’ll hit just ahead of Kim in the seventh spot in the lineup.
Austin Riley is also back in the lineup, hitting sixth and playing third after missing his second start of the season on Saturday. That moves Mauricio Dubon, who filled in on Saturday, back to left field.
Chadwick Tromp is also getting his turn at catcher and hitting ninth in the series finale as Atlanta goes for a sweep to complete what would be a 5-1 road trip.
Braves starter Spencer Strider (3-0, 3.46 ERA) has faced the Reds three times but hasn’t done so since 2023. That limits the number of current Cincinnati players who have faced him to just five. Nathaniel Lowe has a team-high six at-bats against the right-hander but only one hit (.167). TJ Friedl (2-for-3) and Eugenio Suarez (2-for-4) have had more success in a smaller sample size, with Suarez providing the only extra-base hits off Strider in a pair of doubles.
Overall, Cincinnati’s hitters are a combined 7-for-18 against Strider (.389) with four RBIs, seven strikeouts and one walk.
The Reds are moving JJ Bleday up three spots to the three-hole of the lineup after he provided their only real offense of the game with a two-run homer in Saturday’s 5-2 loss. Slugging rookie Sal Stewart drops a spot to the cleanup role.
Additionally, leadoff hitter Blake Dunn moves from right field to center, replacing TJ Friedl, who will sit. Will Benson — who is in a 2-for-23 slump — gets the start in right and will hit eighth. P.J. Higgins also replaces Tyler Stephenson behind the plate for his seventh start of the season, hitting ninth.
Reds starter Nick Lodolo has one career start against the Braves last year, giving him a limited but scattered experience against the Braves’ current hitters. No one has more than four at-bats against him (Kim, 1-for-4) and no one has more than one hit or one RBI off him.
Riley has a double and Michael Harris II has a triple, as Braves hitters are a combined 5-for-24 against Lodolo (.208) with three RBIs, 10 strikeouts and two walks.
The smoldering Ronald Acuña Jr., who has four homers in the last three games, has never faced Lodolo.
