Michael Harris II moves up to cleanup in Ronald Acuña Jr.’s absence

Drake Baldwin sits as Marcell Ozuna moves up to fifth

Well, it’s another new-look lineup for the Braves, for obvious reasons. A lot of shuffling, with Michael Harris II suddenly hitting cleanup and Marcell Ozuna suddenly hitting fifth, while Sean Murphy gets re-banished to the seven-hole for some reason. Harris last hit cleanup back in September 2022 — it’s actually kind of funny that it’s not that he’s hitting cleanup now despite a terrible aggregate batting line this season for the first time, but for the second time, when the Braves also gave him that role in one specific game while they were still chasing down the Mets for the division.

It’s mostly familiar faces for the Royals, though they are again shuffling their deck against southpaw Joey Wentz. Righty-hitting Tyler Tolbert starts and hits eighth, while Maikel Garcia moves up to the leadoff spot, as Jonathan India gets the day off. This will be Tolbert’s first career start in left field; he has already started at second, third, and center field this season.