Lineup shuffles are all the rage:
Honestly, this is just a strange-looking lineup. Mauricio Dubon is still hitting cleanup, but Ozzie Albies slides up to second in Ronald Acuña Jr.’s absence. Lane Thomas DHes against a righty, even though Dominic Smith and Sean Murphy are still on the roster.
But hey, yesterday’s hero gets a start for the first time in 12 days, so we’ll see what happens.
The Dodgers have also shuffled their lineup a bit:
Tommy
Edman slides into the two-hole and center field, while Miguel Rojas and Enrique Hernandez will make starts in the finale. Max Muncy gets a day off against southpaw Chris Sale, while Teoscar Hernandez moves up to fifth.
History against Yoshinobu Yamamoto, you ask? Everyone but Drake Baldwin and Mauricio Dubon have faced him at least once, but no one has double-digit PAs against him. Everyone save Thomas and Albies has also hit him pretty well, so the collective line is a .326 wOBA and .346 xwOBA in 30 PAs.
For the Dodgers versus Sale, there’s a fair bit of experience for a handful of guys, and everyone but catcher Ben Rortvedt has faced Sale at least once. Teoscar Hernandez, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman have all pretty much crushed Sale. The combined line is just a .326 wOBA and .317 xwOBA, though, because the other players in their lineup have generally struggled against the Braves’ ace.
