Dodgers: Dodgers Vs Braves Position by Position Breakdown


Outfield
The Braves outfield is pretty much set in stone. You have the stud rookie Ronald Acuña in left field, with veterans Ender Inciarte and Nick Markakis manning center and right field respectively. The strengths are clearly on the corners for this outfield. Nothing against Inciarte who is a nice player, but Markakis and Acuña are having impressive years.
Ronald Acuña had a ridiculous streak of leading games off with bombs until Mattingly and the Marlins dosed him. The 20-year-old kid is absolutely electric. He is the soul of this team. He will likely be the Rookie of the year this season and for good reason. He has 19 home runs and a 1.028 OPS since the all-star break. He has been on a tear since the break and is one of the bats to keep an eye on this series.
Nick Markakis on the other hand has regressed since the all-star break but he will always be a tough out. He is going to be a pesky guy to get out for the Dodgers. He finally got an all-star appearance this season for the first time in his career. He has always been good, this season he finally got the nod because he took that one step forward in the first-half.
For the Dodgers, it looks like a full on platoon at every against RHP: Pederson-Bellinger-Puig, against LHP Roberts has liked using some combo of Taylor-Kemp-Hernandez and sometimes Puig. We shall see how Roberts will play this but it doesn’t seem like Roberts will change his matchups.
Taylor who started the year on a hangover from his breakout 2017, has been very good as of late. Pederson is explosive at the top of the lineup. Bellinger is explosive anywhere he is. Puig has been torching balls all year, his luck has been off and on but the hard hit balls have been constant. Matt Kemp has been better after his awful slump immediately after the break.
This Dodgers outfield is good but also unpredictable at times. Ronald Acuña has been elite in the second half. Nick Markakis is a quiet player who will just be one of those guys you would hate to see up to bat in critical situations as a Dodger fan. Inciarte plays gold glove defense and his 28 stolen bases could be huge. Because of this slight advantage to the Braves in the outfield.