Eli White batting second for the Braves against Mets

For some reason, Eli White is hitting second.

The Atlanta Braves are taking on the National League East leading New York Mets and they will be bringing David Peterson to the mound who is having the best year of his career in terms of ERA with a 2.49.

The Braves have struggled for most of the year offensively, even though on paper they should be well above average. Since the start of June, the Braves are twentieth in MLB in runs scored.

There is a glass half full way to look at the offense in tonight’s game. The Braves’ middle of the lineup has largely done well against Peterson in the past. Matt Olson has done fantastic against Peterson with four HRs in sixteen at-bats and accumulated eleven RBIs. Austin Riley has done well with a .391 average and .984 OPS in twenty-three ABs, and Ronald Acuña Jr. has a .935 OPS in eighteen ABs. Ozuna only has a .176 average but has two HRs and a .751 OPS. The rest of the players on the roster struggled against Peterson in the past with no one having an OPS over .500.

For some reason Brian Snitker has moved Eli White up to bat second. Eli White currently sports a .281 OBP and .669 OPS on the season. What makes it even more odd is that White is seriously struggling against lefties this year. He has a .192/.222/.250 slash line against them this season. If we look at his career against lefties, its arguably just as bad or worse at .167/.250/.241.

No one on the Mets has more than nine at-bats against Spencer Schwellenbach, who will be starting for the Braves tonight. Of the nine players on the roster who has faced Schwellenbach, six of them have yet to get on base. The most successful player against him is Jeff McNeil with a .333 average and 1.000 OPS in only three at-bats. Nimmo has seen him the most with nine at-bats but has yet to get on base.

First pitch is at 7:15 EDT