Drake Baldwin hits fifth, Matt Olson slides up to third for Pittsburgh finale

.500? In sight. Handedness? Alternated.

The Braves are making a minor lineup adjustment given that Drake Baldwin is starting on Sunday afternoon, flip-flopping Matt Olson and Marcell Ozuna to alternate handedness throughout the batting order:

Baldwin has started in the sixth spot a handful of times, but has not yet hit any higher than that so far. After starting the season substantially in the hole in terms of wOBA vis-a-vis xwOBA, the two have now synchronized around .360 (a 126 wRC+). (It’s worth noting, however, that due to the early-season temperatures and even draggier ball that may have a higher coefficient of restitution, we’re actually in a place where hitters are achieving a high-in-the-Statcast-era .327 xwOBA pre-calibration, while wOBA is at .314 — so in essence, Baldwin is actually getting lucky because he’s not underhitting his xwOBA.)

The other notable change prompted by Baldwin’s presence is that Matt Olson is back to hitting third. That’s where he started the year, and that’s also where he hit when Marcell Ozuna was briefly out with an injury; he’s rarely hit third as a Brave overall.

The Pirates have a somewhat different look for their lineup, because Oneil Cruz is out:

Basically, it’s a bunch of righties and Bryan Reynolds lining up against Chris Sale, with Ke’Bryan Hayes moving up to the leadoff spot. This is just Peguero’s third start of the year, so suffice to say this is a novel look for Pittsburgh at this point.