Lara will start in center field and bat second in Thursday's game against the Pirates.
Lara will stick in the starting nine for a fourth straight game and will cover center for the second day in a row while Garrett Mitchell (neck) remains banged up. Once Mitchell is back in action, Lara could end up seeing regular reps in right field over Sal Frelick, who has posted a lowly .506 OPS since returning from the injured list Aug. 25. During that same stretch, Lara is slashing .263/.317/.298 with one stolen base, nine runs and eight RBI over 17 games.