Atlanta Braves Vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (4/19/22) Starting Lineup, Betting Odds, Prediction
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The Atlanta Braves are the defending World Series champions as we head into the 2022 season. In 2021, the Braves were 88-73 winning the National League East. In the playoffs they beat the Milwaukee Brewers in the Division Round (3-1), the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship series (4-2) then the Houston Astros, 4-2 in the World Series. In six seasons as the Braves manager, Brian Snitker has won over 445 games: winning the National League East the last four seasons. Through the first 11 games of the 2022 season, Atlanta is 5-6. The Los Angeles Dodgers were 106-56 last season, finishing second in the National League West. The Dodgers beat the Cardinals in the wild card round, then went on to beat their long-time rival San Francisco Giants in the Division Series, 3-2, but falling to the Braves 4-2 in the National League Championship Series. The Dodgers have won seven of their first nine games of the 2022 season.
Atlanta Braves Vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Betting Odds
Atlanta is 8-1 in their last nine during game two of a series. The Braves are 6-1 in their last seven Tuesday games. Over is 5-2-1 in Atlanta’s last eight during game two of a series. The Braves are +950 to win back-to-back World Series crowns, last repeat World Series champions were the New York Yankees (1998 – 2000). Over is 5-0 in the Dodgers last five during game two of a series. Los Angeles is 55-17 in their last 72 during game two of a series. Over is 4-0 in Buehler’s last four home starts. The Dodgers are the favorite to win the 2022 World Series title at +500.
Atlanta Braves Starting Lineup
2B Ozzie Albies S
1B Matt Olson L
3B Austin Riley R
LF Marcell Ozuna R
C Travis d’Arnaud R
DH Alex Dickerson L
CF Adam Duvall R
RF Eddie Rosario L
SS Dansby Swanson R
Atlanta Braves Vs. Walker Buehler (R)
Atlanta acquired star first baseman Matt Olson from the Oakland Athletics as the replacement for long-time star first baseman Freddie Freeman. Olson an Atlanta, Georgia native, hit .271 while smashing 39 home runs and driving in 111 runs for Oakland in 2021. The first baseman with career WAR of 18.1 is a lifetime .252 hitter with 517 hits, 142 home runs, 373 runs batted in and a .511 slugging percentage. Against right-handed pitching in 2021, he hit .271 in 419 plate appearances with 17 long balls and 61 runs driven in. This season he’s second in the National League with a .421 batting average (16-38). He’s hit two home runs, two doubles, driven in two runs, 26 total bases with slugging percentage of .684 and an OPS of 1.235
Ozzie Albies smacked 30 home runs with 106 runs batted in, slugging .488 with an OPS of .799 in 2021. Albies hit 21 home runs off right-handed pitching last year while slugging .454. He’s tied for second in the National League in home runs with four. Albies has eight runs batted in, 23 total bases with a .548 slugging percentage and an OPS of .854. Against the Dodgers Walker Buehler, Albies had one hit in seven at-bats last season. In 2021, Austin Riley hit .303 with 33 homers, 107 runs batted in while slugging .531. Against right-handed pitching last season, the Braves third baseman hit .312 with 30 home runs and 89 runs batted in with an OPS of .941. Last year, Riley had two hits in three at-bats against the Los Angeles ace, Buehler. To start the 2022 campaign, Riley has 10 hits in 40 at-bats with two home runs and five runs batted in. Georgia native, Dansby Swanson slugged .449 while smashing 27 home runs and knocking in 88 runs for Atlanta in 2021. The shortstop has struggled to start the 2022 season with six hits in 38 at-bats with two runs batted in. He had one hit in at-bats against Walker Buehler in 2021.
Last season, Buehler finished fourth in the National League Cy Young voting; he was 16-4 with an ERA of 2.47, 212 strikeouts, WHIP of .968 and 6.7 wins above replacement. Entering his sixth season in the big leagues, he has a career 40-13 record with an ERA of 2.90 and a WHIP of 1.006. In a 162-game regular season, the right-hander from Vanderbilt is averaging a record of 14-4 with an ERA of 2.90 and 218 strikeouts. In two starts in 2022, he’s 1-0 with an ERA of 3.38, nine strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.31.
Los Angeles Dodgers Starting Lineup
RF Mookie Betts R
SS Trea Turner R
1B Freddie Freeman L
C Will Smith R
DH Max Muncy L
3B Justin Turner R
LF Chris Taylor R
CF Cody Bellinger L
2B Gavin Lux L
Los Angeles Dodgers Vs. Max Fried (L)
In the off-season Los Angeles signed first baseman, Freddie Freeman fresh off leading the Atlanta Braves to the 2021 World Series championship. In his final season in Atlanta, Freeman hit .300 with 31 home runs and 83 runs driven in while accumulating 302 total bases. The lefty led the National League in runs scored with 120 while slugging .503 with an OPS of .896. The 2020 National League MVP, hit .257 with seven home runs and a .427 slugging percentage vs. left-handed pitching in 2021. In his first nine games as a Dodger, Freeman is hitting .324 (12-37). He has four runs batted in, 15 total bases with an OPS of .786.
With Freeman now at first base, Max Muncy will move to either DH or second base in 2022; he’s still recovering from a torn UCL suffered at the end of last season. In 2021, Muncy crushed 36 home runs, drove in 94 runs, scored 95 runs, and had a slugging percentage of .527. The lefthanded hitting, Muncy hit .276 with 11 home runs and had an OPS of .961 vs. lefties last season. This season, he has five hits in first 30 at-bats with a home run and four runs batted in. Last season, Justin Turner hit .278 with 27 big flies and 87 runs knocked in. The third baseman hit 10 home runs with a .491 slugging percentage in 177 plate appearances vs. lefties last year. Turner has eight hits in his first 34 at-bats with five runs driven in to begin the 2022 season. He has five hits in 10 at-bats against Fried last season with a home run and an RBI. Shortstop Trea Turner has had a nice to start to the 2022 season, hitting .316 (12-38) with a home run, seven runs driven in, six runs scored and 17 total bases. Turner has seven hits in 21 at-bats against the Braves Max Fried with a home run, two runs batted in and an OPS of .940.
Star outfielder and one of the leading candidates for the National League MVP award, Mookie Betts hit .264 with 23 home runs and 58 runs batted during his second season in Dodger blue. The 2021 All-Star also had 227 total bases with a .487 slugging percentage and an OPS of .854 last year. To start the 2022 season, he has seven hits in his first 34 at-bats with three runs batted in and five runs scored.
In 2021, the lefty Max Fried was 14-7 with an ERA of 3.04 in 28 starts: leading the league in shutouts with two. The 28-year-old had a WHIP of 1.087 while striking out 158 hitters in 165.2 innings last year. This season the left-hander is 0-2 with a 5.73 ERA. He has pitched 11 innings, striking out nine hitters, allowing seven earned runs with a WHIP of 1.455.
Atlanta Braves Vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Picks & Prediction
Under is 12-5-2 in the Braves last 19 Tuesday games. Atlanta is 17-36 in the last 53 meetings in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. The Braves are scoring 4.27 runs per nine innings in 2022. Los Angeles is 40-11 in their last 51 Tuesday games. Over is 5-0 in Dodgers last 5 during game 2 of a series. Over is 5-1 in Dodgers last six home games vs. a left-handed starter. The Dodgers are scoring 5.81 runs per game this season, tops in Major League Baseball. With Los Angeles starting their ace, Walker Buehler at home, I’m going to take the Dodgers to win this game by more than 1.5 runs and the teams to combine for under eight runs.
