Jurickson Profar News: Likely to bat in heart of order

Manager Brian Snitker said Sunday that he expects to slot Profar (suspension) in the middle of the Atlanta lineup when the 32-year-old outfielder returns from the restricted list for Wednesday's game against the Angels, David O'Brien of The Athletic reports. "I think we can move [Profar] around in kind of the middle of the order," Snitker said. "The fact he's a switch hitter and all that's gonna work out good."

Before he was handed an 80-game suspension March 31 for violating MLB's performance-enhancing drugs policy, Profar had batted leadoff in each of Atlanta's first four games. Ronald Acuna has since returned from the injured list to reclaim table-setting duties, but Snitker had previously said two weeks ago that he expects to deploy Profar as the team's everyday left fielder and No. 2 hitter upon his return. However, with Atlanta receiving good results from Matt Olson out of the two hole lately, Snitker is now more inclined to have Profar slot into the middle of the batting order against both right- and left-handed pitching, which could create more RBI opportunities for the switch hitter. Since beginning his rehab assignment at Triple-A Gwinnett on June 17, Profar has looked dialed in at the plate, slashing .326/.404/.587 with three home runs and an 8:6 BB:K.