Braves debut new-look Opening Day lineup that has fascinating wrinkles to start 2026

Opening Day has mercifully arrived, so we finally get to see the Atlanta Braves play baseball games that count. With the arrival of the 2026 season comes the inevitable second-guessing of the Braves' lineup decisions with the added wrinkle of a new manager to yell at. In a lot of ways, it is comforting and a sign that baseball really is back.

We did have a good idea as to what the Braves' Opening Day lineup was going to look like ahead of time. Being against a lefty starter in Cole Ragans made some decisions for them and Walt Weiss had already said that Ronald Acuña Jr. would be leading off and that Drake Baldwin would be at DH which, by default, meant Jonah Heim would be at catcher. Beyond that, Weiss' decisions would set the tone for how he was going to manage this team going forward.

With just hours away from first pitch, we have the Braves' official lineup and Weiss certainly did not disappoint.

Braves set their Opening Day lineup includes Ozzie Albies in familiar lefty-killing position

This is a truly intriguing lineup on a number of levels. Michael Harris II is back in the nine-hole to try and help set the table for Acuña Jr. after the first turn through the lineup, though there is a real chance he outperforms that spot. That Mauricio Dubon is hitting above Heim tells you all you need to know about how much to expect from Heim's bat.

The real intrigue, though, is in the top half of the lineup. Weiss alternated lefties and righties (mostly) as expected, but Baldwin is actually hitting in the two spot. While a bold move against a left-handed starter, Weiss has said repeatedly that he still likes his bat a lot against lefties and felt comfortable with him. That said, one wonders if we will see some experimentation from Weiss swapping Baldwin and Matt Olson around.

Ozzie Albies also seems to be getting a vote of confidence here. There was a time when Albies looked almost like prime Mike Trout against lefties, but that performance had waned in recent years. Perhaps Weiss is hoping to get him going in a matchup that could be very favorable if Ozzie is healthy. As for Eli White, well...that he is hitting sixth and it doesn't look completely out of place is a clear sign of how much Jurickson Profar's suspension cost Atlanta early on.