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Atlanta Braves: It’s time to shake up the lineup

By Jake Mastroianni

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA - MARCH 12: Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates with Nick Markakis #22 of the Atlanta Braves after hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals during the Grapefruit League spring training game at Champion Stadium on March 12, 2019 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA - MARCH 12: Ronald Acuna Jr. #13 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates with Nick Markakis #22 of the Atlanta Braves after hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals during the Grapefruit League spring training game at Champion Stadium on March 12, 2019 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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Atlanta Bravse Ozzie Albies Dansby Swanson
WEST PALM BEACH, FL – MARCH 13: Ozzie  Albies #1 and Dansby  Swanson #7 of the Atlanta Braves wait for a spring training baseball game against the Washington Nationals to begin at Fitteam Ballpark of the Palm Beaches on March 13, 2019 in West Palm Beach, Florida. The Nationals defeated the Braves 8-4. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

We are now a couple of weeks into the 2019 season and it’s time for the Atlanta Braves to consider changing the lineup a bit.

Outside of a couple of games in Coors field, the Atlanta Braves offense has sputtered over the last week.

This is not an overreaction to say that the Atlanta Braves need to shake things up in the lineup, these are trends we’ve seen before and knew were possible coming into the season.

The glaring weakness is the leadoff spot where Braves hitters are hitting a combined .196 on the season.

A lot of the blame there is put on Ender Inciarte, and rightfully so, but Ozzie Albies isn’t exactly lighting the world on fire from the leadoff spot either.

And after Ozzie’s great start to the season, he’s been cooled off a bit and his left-handed swings look more like they did in 2018.

I’m not ready for the Atlanta Braves to trade Ender or bench him like most fans suggest. I still believe he is a very good all-around player, and history shows his bat will come around.

But that doesn’t mean Brian Snitker has to blindly put him in the leadoff spot until that happens. Last year he waited way too long to make a change at leadoff, and he can’t let that happen this season.

The division is much more competitive this season, and we can’t afford to keep taking these losses in the division like we have been.

Changes need to be made, and it starts at the top of the lineup.

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