Ronald Acuña Jr. development lets Braves unlock best lineup

The Atlanta Braves have found a lot of success this season under first-year manager Walt Weiss. As of Aug. 14, the club is 73-48 and comfortably in first place in the National League East. They lead the Philadelphia Phillies by nine games in the division, but trail the Milwaukee Brewers by one and a half games for the NL’s No. 1 seed. The Braves recently released their lineup for Friday’s game versus the Arizona Diamondbacks. Usually a right fielder, Ronald Acuña Jr. is the designated hitter in this configuration. This is his fifth game at DH since he returned from the injured list on July 27. What this could mean for Atlanta’s lineup This kind of lineup lets the Braves go with their best combination of hitting and defense. Firstly, Acuña’s injury risk is greatly lowered by not having to run around in the outfield. He has missed 52 games this season from injury. For as great a hitter as he is, Acuña is not a great defensive right fielder. He has compiled -34 outs above average there since 2022, -6 of that coming this season in limited action. This lineup allows the Braves to put Mike Yastrzemski in right field, who is much better suited to play defense in that spot. The club will face a right-handed starter in Brandon Pfaadt Friday, and the lefty batting Yastrzemski hits righties well (.741 OPS this season). Super utility right-handed bat Mauricio Dubón is in left field, and his reverse splits this season have resulted in a .731 OPS. He has also been swinging it well for months now. MORE: Red Sox lose player to American League contender ahead of Pirates game The catcher position Aug 1, 2026; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr (13) hits a home run against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect (Reuters) One final thing that Acuña’s DH role will do is force Drake Baldwin to catch. He is serviceable behind the plate, though it is his 20 home runs and .812 OPS hitting that is the headline here. This will prevent Sean Murphy from cracking the lineup. He is solid defensively, but the offensive gap between him and Baldwin makes the latter’s presence in the lineup much more valuable. Players always react differently to playing a DH role after being in the field for most of their career, so we shall see how Acuña does if this becomes more permanent. The 28-year-old is red-hot to start August, slugging .556 in 48 plate appearances. — Enjoy free coverage of the top news & trending stories with The Big Lead Newsletter —