Michael Harris II bats second as Braves take on Yankees

Both teams have posted their lineups for the first game of the three game series between the Atlanta Braves and the New York Yankees. As far as the Braves are concerned, there’s one face in an unfamiliar place and one of the newest members of the team is getting an opportunity to start.

Let’s continue to talk about how the Braves are looking:

Ozzie Albies left last night’s game against the Mets with a hamstring issue and apparently it’s still bothering him enough to where he’s not in the lineup for tonight’s game. Hopefully this ailment isn’t too serious but in the meantime, Nicky Lopez will be replacing Albies and batting ninth. Lopez had a whale of a game on Saturday and obviously we’ll be hoping for him to find a way to keep that up as he starts today at second base.

Meanwhile, Michael Harris II has shot all the way up from ninth in the order to second. It’s pretty clear that Brian Snitker wants to keep Ronald Acuña Jr. and Harris connected together in the lineup and now it's in the traditional manner of 1-2 instead of the unorthodox fashion of 9-1. Harris has been doing a great job of hitting so far in August (.298/.345/.492 with a wRC+ of 126 and a wOBA of .359) and hopefully he'll be able to keep it up as the second hitter in Atlanta's lineup tonight.

Here's the lineup for the Yankees:

The Braves are sending out left-hander Max Fried to start tonight's game, so the Yankees are putting out their usual look for lefty pitchers which means that Isiah Kiner-Falefa is leading off. DJ LeMahieu, Kyle Higashioka and Oswaldo Cabrera are also re-entering the lineup after sitting out yesterday's game against the Marlins.