Ozzie Albies hits cleanup for some reason, Sean Murphy back in lineup against Mets

The Atlanta Braves will be facing the New York Mets again tonight and the focus will be on the offense. The Braves were able to manage five runs last night but will likely need that and more if they want to win this matchup.

Carlos Carrasco has had a solid career with a great comeback story, but he is clearly near the end of it. His underlying metrics show he has been a bit unlucky, but he still holds an underwhelming 6.18 ERA and 5.28 FIP across 43.2 innings this season.

This likely means the offense will need to produce at a high level for the Braves if they want to stand a chance. They will be facing David Peterson who is having the best two season stretch of his career in terms of preventing runs. He had a 2.90 ERA in 121.0 innings last season and has a 2.98 ERA this season over 133.0 innings.

The Braves’ offense has not been terrible since the start of August. They are fourteenth in MLB in wRC+. This is obviously not ideal, but it is much better than some may have expected. Some of this is due to Michael Harris making some adjustments and heating up, as well as Marcell Ozuna seemingly breaking out of his slump he has had since hurting his hip.

Speaking of Ozuna, he leads all players on the active roster with twenty ABs against Peterson. He only has a .200 average against him, but does have an OPS of .738 thanks to two solo HRs. Matt Olson easily has the best record against him. In nineteen ABs he has four HRs, twelve RBI, .263 average, and a 1.259 OPS. The only two other players with at least thirteen ABs against Peterson are Albies and Harris. In thirteen ABs, Harris has struggled mightily with a .077 average and .231 OPS. Albies has not been much better with a .200 average and .400 OPS in fifteen ABs.

Ozzie Albies hits cleanup for some reason, Sean Murphy back in lineup against Mets — Braves Lineup

Sean Murphy is back in the lineup, Eli White gets the start, and Ozzie Albies will hit cleanup. Yes, Ozzie Albies who has a .400 OPS against Peterson in fifteen at-bats.

The Mets are going with the exact same lineup as they had yesterday. Even though Carrasco has been in MLB since 2009, only three hitters on the Mets have faced him before. Tyrone Taylor, who is not starting tonight, Juan Soto, and Cedric Mullins. Mullins has struggled against him with a .222 average and .444 OPS in nine ABs. Soto has ten ABs and has a .200 average, but a .833 OPS thanks to a HR.