Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez likes the flow of his lineup since he shuffled the order last weekend and put Nick Markakis, Andrelton Simmons, Freddie Freeman and A.J. Pierzynski in the top four slots.
“It’s hard to complain about the way we have been scoring runs,” Gonzalez said.
In the four games with those four at the top half of the order entering Wednesday the Braves had cranked out 39 hits and scored 25 runs. In those games Markakis, Simmons, Freeman and Pierzynski combined to go 19-for-50 (.380) with six walks, 10 RBIs and 15 runs scored.
Previously the general order had been Markakis third, Freeman fourth, Pierzynski fifth and Simmons either seventh or eighth. Gonzalez decided to move Markakis to the top of the order because he’s consistently gotten on base, slotted Simmons into the No. 2 hole because he’s been producing and moved Freeman up a slot.
Pierzynski had been batting fifth when he played but now is the Braves’ hot cleanup hitter. Entering Wednesday he was batting .439 with a .458 on-base percentage, .732 slugging percentage and and 12 RBIs in 11 games
“What makes it flow, too, is my Polish catcher,” Gonzalez said, referring to Pierzynski. “He’s got like a wand. They play him this way, he hits it that way. They play him that way, he hits it this way. It looks easy.”
Gonzalez has been mixing and matching the order behind his top four. The Braves and Rangers are the only teams in the majors who had yet to repeat a lineup entering Wednesday’s games, with 20 different combinations in 20 games. The Giants, Brewers and Blue Jays each had used 20 different lineups in 21 games played.
Among that group, the Braves were the only team with a .500 or better record entering Wednesday. The Blue Jays ranked first in the majors in runs per game (5.52) and the Braves were 12th (4.45) but the other three teams ranked 24th or worse.
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