Lopez gets another start, Murphy back in the lineup

Another August day, another lineup with Nicky Lopez hitting ninth, and Sean Murphy hitting seventh.

I’m not going to get into a whole thing about this, but there are only six players in all of baseball with 250+ PAs and a higher xwOBA than Sean Murphy, and there are also six players on his team that are hitting ahead of them. I’ve said my piece now.

For those keeping score at home, the Braves previously used this lineup and defensive arrangement once before — Tuesday’s 5-0 win over the Yankees.

Meanwhile, the Giants will roll out this lineup behind Alex Cobb:

The Giants move their lineup around all the time — 112 different batting orders in 121 games so far — and while none of the players here are in unfamiliar places, this is once again a novel lineup for them. Wade Meckler, who was called up earlier this week, returns to the two-hole after spending one game at leadoff yesterday. If you’re paying attention, that gives the Giants two Wades at the very top of the lineup.

The Braves, as a group, have fairly limited exposure to Cobb:

The Giants in this lineup have even less exposure to Strider, which is probably a good thing for their batting lines.