The Atlanta Braves are going to be trying something new on Tuesday night as they begin a three-game series with the red-hot Arizona Diamondbacks. The Braves have struggled to consistently score runs these last few weeks, and many have pointed to poor lineup construction as the leading cause.
Jason Heyward, who was named National League Player of the Week, batted no higher than sixth last week. Brian McCann and Freddie Freeman, two very talented hitters when they're going right, are slumping horribly right now and have been pretty mediocre all season long. These two were typically hitting third and fifth in the batting order each night.
What did manager Fredi Gonzalez do to change things up for tonight?
Here's the lineup for Tuesday:
Michael Bourn - CF
Jason Heyward - RF
Martin Prado - LF
Brian McCann - C
Dan Uggla - 2B
Chipper Jones - 3B
Freddie Freeman - 1B
Andrelton Simmons - SS
Tim Hudson - P
In my opinion, that's the best lineup of the season.
It has a perfect left-right balance behind Bourn and Heyward, who should absolutely be the top-two hitters in the order. It also gives the surging Heyward a chance to be right in the middle of the lineup, both driving home and scoring runs.
It drops Freeman down to seventh, which only makes sense given his injury issues and struggles at the plate. Hopefully the young first baseman can get things figured out this week.
First pitch for tonight is set for 7:10 p.m. ET at Turner Field.
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