When the Atlanta Braves' original lineup for Game 3 of the NLDS was posted, there weren't a ton of surprises. It was a little surprising that Mike Yastrzemski wasn't in against a tough righty, and Ha-Seong Kim hitting at all is less than ideal, but everything else made sense on paper. However, the Braves' catching plans got upended just hours before the game.
The Braves have been preferring a lineup alignment that includes both Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy in the lineup. There are pros and cons to each player catching on any given, but Atlanta clearly likes having both guys in the lineup in most matchups.
That was what was supposed to happen in Game 3. However, word got out on Tuesday afternoon that Murphy was getting scratched, and Ronald Acuña Jr. was being shifted to DH. As it turns out, that is due to the fact that Acuña Jr. is dealing with a sore knee.
Acuna's knee has been sore since he slid during Sunday's game. So, they will use him at DH tonight. Lane Thomas will now be in right and Sean Murphy is no longer in the lineup. https://t.co/koRd2fgwDU
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) October 6, 2026
Ronald Acuña Jr. moved to DH for Braves' Game 3 due to lingering knee soreness
There shouldn't be too much panic here, as Acuña Jr. IS still playing after all. However, if he is feeling any amount of soreness at all (which apparently has existed since Sunday), moving him to DH is a no-brainer move. The bigger question is whether or not this issue gets worse and threatens his availability the rest of the postseason.
Unfortunately, it does mean that the Braves are having to play Lane Thomas, who hasn't hit much at all since the Braves traded for him at the deadline, against one of the tougher righthanded pitchers in baseball in Yoshinobu Yamamoto. No lineup is perfect, and there is no guarantee that Murphy would have been able to deal with Yamamoto, but this is probably not the plan the Braves drew up.
There are some benefits, of course. The Braves can slot Murphy in as a pinch hitter relatively easily late in games, which might be important when looking at the number of high octane arms in the Dodgers bullpen. Murphy also gets a little bit of rest, and can jump in if Baldwin has any issues tonight. One just hopes that Baldwin is prepared enough to call a good game for Chris Sale, although it is hard to do wrong with whatever Sale throws.
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