Albies remains at leadoff against right-hander Fedde

Joc Pederson hits seventh as the Braves forgo alternating handedness towards the bottom of the lineup

It’s a new day for the now-over-.500 Braves, and a kinda-new, kinda-not lineup, as well:

This is more or less the same lineup the Braves have deployed throughout August, though it’s technically novel because the last (and only) two times that Joc Pederson hit seventh for the Braves, Kevan Smith was the catcher, and tonight it’ll be Steven Vogt hitting eighth. That said, this is the same defensive arrangement that backed starter Kyle Muller in the 8-1 win over the Brewers last weekend, so here’s to hoping for something similar.

The Nationals, meanwhile, line up this way:

This lineup is fairly late because Juan Soto has been scratched with a knee problem he suffered in the final frame of yesterday’s loss to the Phillies. That makes this contest more of an uphill climb for Washington, though we’ll see what happens. That makes this whole exercise both a novel batting order and defensive arrangement for the Nationals, who will start Yadiel Hernandez and Gerardo Parra in the outfield corners.

Most of the Braves have some exposure to Erick Fedde, but one weird thing is that for all the crushing of the right-hander that Atlanta’s done over the last three years… Freddie Freeman has done very little in 10 PAs. Go figure.

Statcast graphic time!