The Yankees do Chris Sale a favor with a great lineup in the series opener against the Braves

The New York Yankees are a team that needs to rebound. They have lost two series in a row after losing two of three games to the Baltimore Orioles, and things won’t get any easier with the visit of the Atlanta Braves.

Atlanta’s offense hasn’t been nearly as dominant as we’re used to, but their pitching, especially their starting pitching, has been outstanding. That’s the main reason why Atlanta enters the series with a 41-31 record despite their inconsistent offense.

Chris Sale, a pitcher the Yankees know well, will face the Bronx Bombers on Friday, and the team he will face is unrecognizable, to say the least.

We’ve already covered the top 4. The top 4 with Anthony Volpe, Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are among the best in the major leagues. The rest, however, are difficult to keep track of.

Jahmai Jones, a player with 20 batting appearances this season and 110 batting appearances in parts of four MLB seasons, is batting fifth against Chris Sale. Jones, a player with an OPS of .498 in 110 batting appearances, is batting fifth against Chris Sale. Yikes. Jones is playing despite Alex Verdugo getting off for the game. It’s getting worse.

DJ LeMahieu was once a candidate for MVP, but he has a .200 batting average in his 70 at-bats this season. What’s most striking about LeMahieu is that all 12 of his hits have been singles. He doesn’t have a single extra-base hit this season, but he has a sixth hit against an All-Star.

Light-hitting catcher Jose Trevino will bat seventh. Ben Rice, a left-hander, will have the impossible task of understanding Sale’s unusual left-handed arm motion while batting eighth. And Oswaldo Cabrera, a switch-hitter who struggles as a right-hander, will complete the order.

The Yankees could get runs generated by the best hitters in their batting order, but if those batters don’t get anything done, we could see Sale at his best tonight. The left-hander enters with a sub-3.00 ERA, and it wouldn’t be a surprise at all if it were even lower.