Texas Rangers vs Atlanta Braves Starting Lineup — Saturday, Jul 18, 2026

Texas has no MLB history against Owen Murphy. Joc Pederson, Wyatt Langford, Josh Jung, Brandon Nimmo, Jake Burger, Ezequiel Duran, Evan Carter, Nicky Lopez, and Kyle Higashioka have not previously faced him in the majors. That leaves the Rangers with a lineup seeing Murphy for the first time across the board.

Atlanta brings several hitters with prior looks at MacKenzie Gore, led by Michael Harris II, who is 4-for-15 in 17 PA with a 1.086 OPS. Mauricio Dubón is 2-for-4 in 5 PA with a 1.100 OPS, Austin Riley is 1-for-2 with a 1.500 OPS, and Ozzie Albies is 1-for-3 with a 1.666 OPS. Matt Olson is hitless, going 0-for-1 in 3 PA with a .667 OPS, while Joey Bart is 0-for-3 in 4 PA with a .250 OPS; Drake Baldwin has one prior plate appearance against Gore and drew a walk. Eli White and Jim Jarvis have no MLB history vs that pitcher.

Atlanta clearly has the more familiar group against the opposing starter. Texas enters with a completely blank history against Murphy, while the Braves have multiple regulars who have already seen Gore several times.