Braves Report: Build your own lineup

Hey y’all. Lots to talk about today — and we’re starting off with a missive from old friend Ken Sugiura.

But first, I must point out the disturbing sense of inertia settling over the Braves Report mailbox. Please ask us more questions. So we can answer them.

It’ll be fun and informative!

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

LISTEN AND LEARN

Braves legend Dale Murphy (right) chats with manager Walt Weiss before Thursday's spring training game.

By Ken Sugiura, AJC columnist

Some thoughts from a Wendy’s somewhere along I-75 north of North Port, Florida, as I head back to Atlanta after a week with the Braves:

1️⃣ The team really likes manager Walt Weiss. They speak about him with what seems very much like genuine affection and respect. Being around him for a week, I think fans will appreciate his personality and good humor. (It depends more, of course, on if the Braves win.)

2️⃣ I think catcher Drake Baldwin is the real deal. Yes, he’s the reigning NL Rookie of the Year — so, of course he is — but you hear the things about him that indicate that he’s not going to be blinded by his initial success. I’m hoping to write something about him from material I collected this week in the next couple of weeks.

One thing I remember off the top of my head was something he said about motivation, and how there was a stretch at the end of last season in which he struggled that he’s using as a reminder that he has to keep getting better. I would think it would be really easy to look at the season as a whole and the ROY award and overlook something like that, but it was almost like he was searching for something to push himself.

3️⃣ It would have been helpful (at least from our perspective) if someone in the clubhouse had let loose on Jurickson Profar after his second failed PED test, but, as they do, players toed the company line. But I have to think they felt a lot of the same things that fans did — shock, confusion, anger.

• The Win Column: Hiring Etsy witches to save the Braves

4️⃣ I don’t know if you saw my column from Thursday, but Dale Murphy and Chipper Jones spoke to the hitters Thursday morning in a team meeting about the craft of hitting, particularly the mental aspect. I thought that was pretty cool and a smart thing for Weiss to pull together.

• I think the best part for me was listening to Murphy extol his undying love for spring training a half-century after he first started coming down here to ready for the season.
• He was telling stories (“I know what happens when you get older; you don’t stop talking”) about Andy Messersmith (how his control of his change-up was an eye opener to Murphy, then a catcher) and Davey Johnson (who helped get him his first glove contract, with Rawlings, by vouching for him with a company rep).

Thanks for reading! Grateful we can be here to bring stories to you from Florida. We’re less than a month away from the season starting.

📲 Appreciate you, Ken. Y’all make sure to follow him and beat writer Chad Bishop on X.

We’ve also got live updates from spring training here, and Chad will be updating his more offbeat blog soon.

THE OTHER LEFT FIELDER

Braves outfielder Mike Yastrzemski celebrates a Feb. 27 home run.

You know Eli White.

He’s the lightning fast but light-hitting fan favorite likely to reprise his outsized 2025 role, thanks to Jurickson Profar getting popped for PEDs again.

But what about Mike Yastrzemski?

He’s the new guy who may well get most of the playing time in left field and, as beat writer Chad Bishop pointed out Thursday, he’s now 8-for-14 with six runs, five RBIs, three homers and three walks in Grapefruit League action.

Here’s a refresher on the wily old vet:

• The grandson of Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski, the Braves were essentially his second team growing up. His dad, Carl Jr., played in Atlanta’s minor league system in the ‘80s before starting a burger chain. (Kidding.)
• The 35-year-old says he grew up admiring Andruw Jones. He ultimately played college ball at Vanderbilt, in the heart of Braves Country.
• He spent six-plus seasons (his whole big league career) with the Giants, until a midseason trade sent him to Kansas City last year.
• Overall he hit .233 with a .735 OPS, 17 homers and 46 RBIs in 2025.
• Career 162-game average, per Baseball Reference: .238 average, .772 OPS, 24 homers and 70 RBIs.

He should, at a minimum, add some pop to the presumed left field platoon.

But Yastrzemski says he’s willing to play when and wherever. He just wants to help the Braves win.

“The way that I’ve learned the game and been around the game so long, it’s something that I like to lean on and help guys out.”

🔗 Bonus linkage: What are the Braves’ post-Profar options?

BUILD A BRAVES BATTING ORDER (BETA)

Wanna make your own post-Profar Braves lineup?

Now you can, with this freshly created, handy-dandy, interactive gizmo. Just drag and drop or click the arrows on the right to move things around.

Still refining things, so consider it a beta version. Other caveats:

• Ha-Seong Kim and Sean Murphy are not currently included because they won’t be available to start the season.
• The opening day roster isn’t set yet. So to keep things simple, we’re not including nonroster invitees.

Feel free to submit your best ideas, or just goof around with it for your own entertainment. Technical limitations won’t let you remove guys from the list altogether, so we’ll consider the top nine your preferred selections.

🔎 A closer look: The talented Mr. Bishop ruminated on the lineup last week, and it’s still worth a read — but keep in mind it was written with Profar still in the mix.

QUICK, SOME OTHER NEWS!

🙌 We’ve mentioned it a lot, but the World Baseball Classic is now in full swing — and the Braves-heavy matchup between Venezuela (Ronald Acuña Jr.) and the Netherlands (think Curacao, Ozzie Albies and manager Andruw Jones) starts at noon today.

• Find Tubi and tune in right now-ish — then check out this full rundown of other current and former Braves in the WBC.

🤖 Matt Olson’s got a good eye, even from first base. But he does not want to be the Braves’ robot ump liaison.

📈 Fun with small sample sizes: Two walks for Michael Harris II and Braves fans can dare to dream.

💪 Hitting coach Tim Hyers is back for Year 2, with the full endorsement of players and manager Walt Weiss. “He brings a calm to that area of the club,” the latter said. “And guys need that.”

🤞 ICYMI: Hurston Waldrep had successful surgery to remove those “loose bodies” in his throwing elbow. It’s possible both Waldrep and Spencer Schwellenbach return by … July-ish?

⬇️ Notable players recently relegated to minor league camp include pitching prospect Owen Murphy and infielder Nacho Alvarez.

🌴 The Spring Breakout is a fun thing where prospects from across the league play against each other for a few days down in Florida (or Arizona). The Braves just announced their potential participants.