Braves' projected Opening Day lineup puts pressure on the core to stay healthy originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Atlanta Braves are coming off the heels of a trade. Last week, they acquired Mauricio Dubon from the Houston Astros in exchange for Nick Allen.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThis helped the club lock down a shortstop, a position they needed to fill with Ha-Seong Kim on the open market. While it was not the flashiest trade, this puts them in a better position than with Allen at shortstop.
Now, the attention turns to filling some more holes. They could use some more depth in their starting rotation and the bullpen, and that could be their primary focus.
Braves' projected Opening Day lineup puts pressure on the core to stay healthy
It is still early in the offseason, but that does not mean we cannot examine how some of these teams are taking shape.
The Braves are coming off one of their worst seasons in some years, and instead of going out and signing multiple players, Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter believes they will stay quiet this winter and hope their core stays healthy.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"Austin Riley, Ronald Acuña Jr., Sean Murphy, and Jurickson Profar all missed significant time to injury and suspension in the case of Profar, the Braves have as much room for in-house improvement as any lineup in baseball."
Much of Atlanta's downfall came with the number of games its star players had to miss. They do not need to make many moves at all; they just need their core to stay on the field in 2026.
According to Reuter, the Braves' projected Opening Day lineup could look like this:
LF Jurickson Profar
1B Matt Olson
RF Ronald Acuña Jr.
3B Austin Riley
DH Drake Baldwin
2B Ozzie Albies
C Sean Murphy
SS Mauricio Dubon
CF Michael Harris II
That is certainly a capable lineup, and one that could terrorize the National League East. They may not make a ton of moves this winter, but with their talent level, they don't need to.
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