As expected, the Braves are opting to begin Sunday afternoon’s game with Adam Duvall and Chadwick Tromp in the lineup. Tromp’s inclusion is influenced by the typical “day game following a night game” scenario, while Duvall is starting because the opposing pitcher, James Paxton of the Los Angeles team, is a left-handed thrower.
Last of 3 in LA.#BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/MXMN5YShE5
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) May 5, 2024
The batters in this lineup have only faced Paxton once before, which occurred in 2018. During that encounter, the Canadian left-handed pitcher managed to strike out Matt Olson looking.
On the other hand, the Dodgers lineup is structured as follows to face Max Fried:
Today’s #Dodgers lineup vs. Braves: pic.twitter.com/vHHbMHUl9S
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 5, 2024
These guys are quite familiar with Fried, really
Both Miguel Rojas and Chris Taylor have displayed strong performances against Fried in the past. However, it’s surprising to see Mookie Betts struggle against him, although in a relatively small sample size of 25 plate appearances. An intriguing observation is Max Muncy’s dominance over Fried historically, boasting impressive statistics with a wOBA and xwOBA of around .500 in 19 plate appearances. Despite this, Muncy is not in the starting lineup for today’s game.