The Atlanta Braves went back to work Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Angels trying to stop a three-game losing streak, and Walt Weiss answered with a lineup that looked different in several key spots. Drake Baldwin stayed second in the batting order but moved to designated hitter, Jonah Heim was set for his fourth game with the team behind the plate and Michael Harris II was left out of the starting lineup.
Eli White took over in center field for Harris, while Reynaldo López was scheduled to start for Atlanta. On the other side, Mike Trout returned to the Angels' lineup, batted second and played center field on his bobblehead night. Trout has crushed López in the past, with an OPS of 1.525 in nine matchups against him, giving the game an edge that went beyond the standings.
The changes fit a simple need for the Braves: get the offense moving again before the skid grows longer. Moving Baldwin to DH kept his bat in the lineup, and bringing Heim into his fourth game with the club gave Atlanta another look behind the plate as it tried to steady itself against an Angels team chasing a fourth straight win.
That set up a clean but uneasy contrast. Atlanta was asking for a reset in the middle of a losing stretch, while Los Angeles got Trout back at the top of the order at a time when the Angels had momentum and one of baseball’s most familiar stars was back under the lights. Travis d'Arnaud was set to return as catcher and bat eighth for the Angels, and the first pitch was scheduled for 9:38 p.m. EDT.
For the Braves, the night was about whether a rearranged lineup could change the direction of a losing streak. For Trout, it was another chance to make one more matchup with López look a lot like the others.
