The Atlanta Braves have won eight straight games heading into their weekend series matchup against the New York Yankees. The Braves are set to take on a familiar face in left-hander Max Fried.
Fried spent the first eight years of his career in Atlanta, even capturing a World Series title with the organization before heading to the Bronx. He has remained just as dominant in New York, and Braves manager Walt Weiss did his best with Friday's lineup to match up as well as possible against him.
Weiss opted to start Ha-Seong Kim at shortstop over left-handed hitter Jim Jarvis, but that was not the only change he made. Weiss also decided to remove center fielder Michael Harris from the lineup.
© Brett Davis-Imagn Images
Harris has been one of Atlanta's best players this year, posting a .293 batting average, .322 on-base percentage and .822 OPS across 109 games, typically hitting fourth in the order. He has hit fourth in every game the Braves have played in August.
With Harris out, Weiss placed first basemanMatt Olson in the cleanup spot. Olson usually hits just ahead of Harris in the third hole, and for good reason, as he is also having an excellent season and earned his fourth career All-Star selection earlier this year.
However, Olson is particularly better against right-handers and faces a difficult matchup against Fried, so Weiss opted to move switch-hitting Ozzie Albies up in the order while sliding Olson into the fourth spot to take advantage of the most favorable matchup possible.
Harris will almost certainly be available off the bench to pinch-hit if needed, but getting him a day off his feet against a tough left-hander the Braves know extremely well is a smart move by Weiss as Atlanta looks to extend its winning streak to nine.
