{"id":124318,"date":"2025-11-23T14:30:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T14:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=124318"},"modified":"2025-11-23T14:31:50","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T14:31:50","slug":"projecting-braves-lineup-if-2026-season-started-right-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=124318","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udd25 BRAVES FUTURE UNVEILED: Projecting Atlanta\u2019s 2026 Opening Day Lineup If the Season Started Right Now \u2014 A Bold, Game-Changing Roster That Could Make a Run for the Championship, With Star Power, Breakout Candidates, and Surprising New Faces Ready to Take the League by Storm."},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

Soon enough, the winter will turn to spring, and Atlanta Braves baseball will be back. A major question surrounds how the offense can bounce back. It\u2019ll take a mix of the right additions and bouncebacks from current members of the lineup to ensure those timely key hits return.<\/p>\n

The offseason is in its early stages, but the Braves are a team with a relatively easy lineup to project for next season. They\u2019ve already made a notable move, which helps with that as well. Here, we\u2019ll project the lineup and then discuss it.<\/p>\n

Note: The order of this lineup is strictly in order of position. Lineups change frequently, so the focus shifts to positions. Imagine putting Olson second in the lineup before the start of last season. You never know.<\/p>\n

Of course, who is in which position can also change, as we saw last season. That is factored into this projection.<\/p>\n

Lineup<\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. Drake Baldwin\/Sean Murphy, Catcher<\/li>\n
  2. Matt Olson, First Base<\/li>\n
  3. Ozzie Albies, Second Base<\/li>\n
  4. Mauricio Dubon, Shortstop<\/li>\n
  5. Austin Riley, Third Base<\/li>\n
  6. Jurickson Profar, Left Field<\/li>\n
  7. Michael Harris II, Centerfield<\/li>\n
  8. Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr., Right field<\/li>\n
  9. Drake Baldwin\/Sean Murphy, Designated Hitter<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Bench<\/h3>\n
      \n
    • Eli White, Utility (mainly outfield)<\/li>\n
    • Vidal Brujan, Utility<\/li>\n
    • Nacho Alvarez Jr., infield<\/li>\n
    • Brett Wisely, infield<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Two positions could see changes this season: shortstop and designated hitter.<\/p>\n

      For now, it\u2019s looking like we\u2019ll see Baldwin and Murphy rotate between catcher and DH. There are worse scenarios than this. However, it\u2019s not the most ideal situation, and the Braves aim to add a designated hitter if possible. This situation is one of the ones that have explicitly been said to be contingent on whether they can get another bat.<\/p>\n

      The same goes for shortstop. Dubon is an option who could be the starting shortstop. However, they made it clear that they\u2019re still on the lookout.<\/p>\n

      Should the Braves find a designated hitter option, this would create another dilemma at catcher. Last season\u2019s emergence of Drake Baldwin created a headache. His bat wasn\u2019t in the lineup as often as anyone would have liked to have seen. Murphy has been a trade candidate in the past. Perhaps he still gets moved this offseason if they find the DH.\u00a0Muprhy’s health status, which they’ll know more of in January, will play a role in these decisions.<\/p>\n

      For now, this is how the lineup is projected. By the new year, we could have to rewrite the whole thing. But that\u2019s the fun part about the offseason. There is an uncertainty to it that means anything can happen.<\/p>\n

      More From Atlanta Braves on SI<\/h3>\n
      <\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      The Atlanta Braves lineup has plenty of time to change over the winter, but some notable moves have already changed how it could look compared to last season<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":124319,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n\ud83d\udd25 BRAVES FUTURE UNVEILED: Projecting Atlanta\u2019s 2026 Opening Day Lineup If the Season Started Right Now \u2014 A Bold, Game-Changing Roster That Could Make a Run for the Championship, With Star Power, Breakout Candidates, and Surprising New Faces Ready to Take the League by Storm. - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=124318\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\ud83d\udd25 BRAVES FUTURE UNVEILED: Projecting Atlanta\u2019s 2026 Opening Day Lineup If the Season Started Right Now \u2014 A Bold, Game-Changing Roster That Could Make a Run for the Championship, With Star Power, Breakout Candidates, and Surprising New Faces Ready to Take the League by Storm. - 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