Earlier in the year, the mouth breathers were out in full force declaring how much better Acuna was batting in the #1 spot in the order. Everyone with half a clue realized the splits being referenced were small sample coincidental nonsense, but the drooling masses persisted.
Acuna's current 2019 splits are:
Batting 1st: .284/.364/.526 (.889 OPS)
Batting 4th: .278/.373/.481 (.854 OPS)
So please, stop the "Acuna thrives in the lead off spot" stupidity. Acuna should be the 2 hole hitter, followed by Freeman and Donaldson...every...single...day. That's "the core" of this offense. Period. End of discussion.
The discussion to be had is who bats 1st, 5th, and everywhere else? To answer that question, we look to xwOBA vs RHP/LHP...
Non "core" xwOBA vs RHP (min 100 PAs):
Nick Markakis 0.365
Matt Joyce 0.358
Dansby Swanson 0.348
Ozzie Albies 0.329
Brian McCann 0.322
Tyler Flowers 0.314
Austin Riley 0.287
Ender Inciarte 0.287
Johan Camargo 0.260
Charlie Culberson 0.237
Pretty easy to understand 2 of Markakis/Joyce/Swanson should be batting 1st and 5th vs RHP.
Non "core" xwOBA vs LHP (min 50 PAs):
Austin Riley 0.454
Ozzie Albies 0.401
Dansby Swanson 0.388
Charlie Culberson 0.339
Ender Inciarte 0.309
Johan Camargo 0.305
Nick Markakis 0.292
Tyler Flowers 0.229
Again, easy to understand Albies and Swanson should be batting 1 and 5 vs LHP.
Also easy to understand why the Braves needed to acquire a RHH OFer at the deadline to start vs LHP. The hope now is that Riley comes back to fill that role, or Culberson can fake it a bit.
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