Freddie Freeman will not start for Braves in tonight’s game against the Blue Jays

The lineups for tonight’s game between the Braves and Blue Jays have been released and there are some extremely interesting decisions when it comes to just the Braves, themselves.

Here’s Atlanta’s lineup:

Yep, you read that lineup and headline correctly. Freddie Freeman isn’t in the lineup for a regular season game where he’s apparently healthy. There’s been no word of any sort of injury or ailment that’s hit Freddie between last night and right now, so I’d assume right now that Freddie is just getting a day off and is probably fine. There’s also the concern about whether or not Freddie was actually 100 percent ready to go for this season to begin with after he had a particularly tough battle with COVID-19 in early-July, so maybe he’s still trying to ease back into the rigors of playing Major League Baseball after dealing with that illness. Still, it’s always a shock to see him taking a day off so it’s understandable to see fans freaking out a little bit.

Additionally, Ozzie Albies has been replaced by Charlie Culberson. Culberson only has two plate appearances under his belt this year, so it’s kind of interesting to see that he’s going to be thrown into the fire with a start here. Speaking of being thrown into the fire, that won’t be happening for Nick Markakis. He’s been activated, but the Braves appear to be sticking with the plan of platooning him since the Blue Jays are putting a left-handed pitcher out there tonight. So Ronald Acuna Jr. will be playing right field tonight, Adam Duvall’s in left, Ender Inciarte’s in center and Marcell Ozuna is the DH. Yeah, this lineup is going to be interesting.

On the other side of the field, here’s what the Blue Jays will be looking like tonight:

Toronto’s lineup order is exactly the same as it was last night. The minor difference is that Lourdes Gurriel Jr. will be in left field tonight after DH’ing last night, Anthony Alford is moving to center field after being in left field, and Randal Grichuk is going to be DH’ing. Other than the position shuffling, the same nine players that started last night’s game for the Blue Jays will be starting tonight’s game.