Culberson starts in lieu of Acuña, Jr. while Inciarte returns; Donaldson still out with calf issue

Despite the obvious differences in how things have played out in the first month of the season, one area the 2019 Braves are markedly improved over the 2018 squad is bench depth. While Charlie Culberson proved to be arguably the only reliable bench piece who could step up at a moment’s notice last season, this year has already seen rotating starts for Johan Camargo (at a number of positions) and Matt Joyce.

Tonight, Culberson gets his first start of the year. He will spell Ronald Acuña, Jr. in left field and bat seventh.

Ender Inciarte will return to his post in center field after tweaking his hamstring on Monday, and will bat eighth. Meanwhile, Josh Donaldson sits for the second consecutive game after aggravating his right calf; Dansby Swanson will inhabit JD’s two-spot in the lineup.

This lineup will be met by Cal Quantrill, the Padres’ 12th ranked prospect, whom will be making his MLB debut. Even while facing some of the Braves’ non-regulars, the son of Paul could still have his hands full.

Max Fried will throw to Brian McCann for the Braves, and the lefty will face a Padres lineup that will stacks four righties at the top of its lineup. Manny Machado is the only Padres starter who has ever seen Fried, going 0-for-3 with two walks and a strikeout.

It should be a beautiful night for baseball, with the temperature at first pitch looking to be 80 degrees. Join us.