Ozzie Albies hits third, Eli White and Jonah Heim draw Opening Day starts
Hello and welcome to the Atlanta Braves Lineup, Opening Day (Night) 2026 Edition.
For your perusal this tremendous March night, now we have entrees corresponding to “Jonah Heim is on this team?” and “Eli White hitting sixth.” To be truthful, the Braves are making one of the best of their scenario, however each Heim and White will possible bedevil the long run model of you that tries to do the whatever-the-2036-Sporcle-equivalent is and will get stumped by the lacking spots within the 2026 Opening Day lineup you attempt to re-encounter in your thoughts palace.
In any case, this lineup is essentially as anticipated, simply… sort of jarring. Ozzie Albies is hitting third as a result of Kansas City starter Cole Ragans throws baseballs together with his left hand. Among gamers out there to the staff, Steamer’s split-specific, versus-southpaws projection is the fourth-best, so hitting him third is sensible. Given the uncertainty about whether or not Albies is firmly within the twilight of his profession or not, there’s a minimum of an opportunity this is sensible.
Both of those lineups are considerably related in that they’re mainly halved into “pretty scary” and “not so scary.” The Braves’ trio of White, Mauricio Dubon, and Jonah Heim — whether or not pressed into service on account of harm or not — is extra defensively-focused than anything; if Michael Harris II has one other struggle-laden 12 months, that trio may very well be a quartet. The similar goes for the 6-7-8 spots within the Kansas City lineup, together with acquisitions Starling Marte and Isaac Collins. Carter Jensen completely destroyed the ball in 69 PAs final 12 months and will not be hitting ninth for lengthy. (Amusingly, each groups have two catchers within the lineup.)
If we’re speaking head-to-head historical past, effectively, there’s not a lot. Six Braves on this lineup have a mixed 20 PAs in opposition to Ragans, and 12 of these come from Dubon (who really has a .376 xwOBA / .382 wOBA in these 12 PAs, though he hasn’t confronted Ragans since 2024).
There are additionally six Royals which have confronted Chris Sale, and once more, it is overwhelmingly tilted in direction of one man: Salvador Perez has confronted Sale in 69 distinct PAs, and has an unremarkable .236 xwOBA / .273 wOBA. The different guys all have fewer than ten (or zero) PAs in opposition to Sale thus far.
With this being Opening Day and all, each starters in all probability aren’t going to stay round too lengthy. Expect to see Mike Yastrzemski are available when the Royals transfer to a righty reliever; the Royals will in all probability throw Jac Caglianone (and perhaps Kyle Isbel for Lane Thomas?) in there when the Braves do the identical.
