Braves manager Walt Weiss said the team plans to use Michael Harris II primarily as a designated hitter for this upcoming nine-game road trip, which begins Friday against the Colorado Rockies, to allow his lingering quad injury a chance to heal.
But Harris will actually start the road trip on the bench as he’s not in Atlanta’s starting lineup for Friday night’s series opener in Denver.
It’s the second straight day Harris is out of the starting lineup, although he pinch hit in Sunday’s loss to the Tigers.
Instead, Drake Baldwin will get a day as designated hitter after the travel turnaround while Jonah Heim starts behind the dish and hits eighth.
With Harris not in center, Mauricio Dubon will start there and hit fifth, ahead of the slumping Austin Riley, who was bumped further down to sixth in the lineup. Eli White gets the start in left field and will hit seventh against Colorado left-hander Jose Quintana, and Jorge Mateo is at shortstop and will bat ninth.
Rockies starter Jose Quintana has struggled mightily in his career against the Braves. In 11 starts, he has a 4-6 record and 6.39 ERA — his second-worst against any team — and his 1.740 WHIP is his worst against any team.
His last start against Atlanta in 2025 with the Brewers wasn’t bad, however. He worked six innings, allowing three runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts and no walks.
On the whole, this Braves roster hasn’t had a ton of success against the journeyman left-hander. Ronald Acuña Jr. is 3-for-19 (.158) against him with a solo homer, Matt Olson is 6-for-27 (.222) with 11 strikeouts and Michael Harris II is 3-for-16 (.188) with a double.
Ozzie Albies, though, has been a Quintana killer. He’s 9-for-19 (.474) with three homers and two doubles for a ridiculous 1.553 OPS. Given his recent form, this could be a favorable matchup for Albies to continue his power surge.
The Rockies are deploying their traditional lineup against right-handed starters, going with Edouard Julien and Mickey Moniak in the top two spots after both were not in the lineup Sunday against Reds lefty Andrew Abbott.
Braves starter Grant Holmes has not had great success early in his career against the Rockies. He has a 5.56 ERA over 11 1/3 innings after starting against them each of the last two seasons, his worst ERA against any team he has made multiple starts against.
His previous start at Coors Field had a lot to do with that. In his third career start, he allowed five runs on six hits over five innings at Colorado in August of 2024, striking out eight and walking three.
The current Colorado roster, though, has not found success against him. Brenton Doyle (1-for-5) is the only Rockies player with a hit against him, a two-run homer, but he’s not in the lineup Friday. The Rockies are a combined 1-for-19 against the right-hander with 14 strikeouts and two walks.
