The first series of 2026 is in the books, and the Atlanta Braves are already off to a better start than they were in 2025. Thanks to some strong pitching and offensive contributions from throughout the lineup, the Braves find themselves at 2-1 so far with only the (check notes) the Marlins ahead of them in the division. Standings certainly don't matter much this early, but you would certainly prefer Atlanta to win games rather than lose them, so the news has been good.
While their play on the field has finally been the focus of the last several days, that is not the only news that is brewing around the Braves as they welcome the Athletics starting on Monday.
Braves News: Atlanta falls just short of a sweep, Drake Baldwin continues to impress
Grant Holmes pitched pretty well in his first start of the season and, more importantly, he looks healthy. Unfortunately, the Braves couldn't really do much against Seth Lugo, and Atlanta had to settle for winning two out of three against the Royals after losing 4-1 on Sunday.
Friday featured a home run barrage, and Saturday had quite the ninth-inning comeback, but at the center of much of the Braves' offensive showing so far has been Drake Baldwin. He has already homered in two of the Braves' first three games and has been consistently hitting the ball hard. Fans may also want to keep an eye on Mike Yastrzemski. While he won't play much against lefty starters, his hot start this spring appears to have carried over to the regular season as he has multi-hit performances in each of his first two games.
Braves News: Both Sean Murphy and Ha-Seong Kim are nearly rehab assignments
The Braves also got some good news on both Sean Murphy and Ha-Seong Kim. Murphy is recovering from hip surgery to fix an injury that he let linger way too long, and Kim injured his finger during a fall this past offseason. While most estimates had both players returning at some point in May, we finally received a more concrete update as to how their rehab is going.
#Braves C Sean Murphy is able to do all baseball activities at this point and is nearing a rehab assignment.
— Grant McAuley (@grantmcauley) March 28, 2026
SS Ha-Seong Kim is taking dry swings and hasn't faced pitching yet. If he progresses to that stage without issue, he could begin a rehab assignment not long after Murphy.
There has been precious little on Murphy's progress since he arrived at camp earlier this spring, but it looks like he has checked all of the boxes he needs to. Based on Grant McAuley's report, we could soon get news on when he will begin a rehab assignment. Kim might be a little behind Murphy, but not by much. Once he faces live pitching, it won't be long before he also heads out to take that last step before his return to the Braves' lineup.