Ronald Acuña Jr. is on the verge of rejoining the Braves, and the bigger question now is where Atlanta should bat him once he’s back.
According to Buster Olney of ESPN, the Braves are expected to activate Acuña this afternoon, and he would immediately return to right field. That sets up his first game since early June, with Atlanta facing the Mets on Monday evening.
The lineup decision is the one drawing the most attention. Acuña’s .373 on-base percentage is still the highest on the team this season, which makes the case for putting him right back in the leadoff spot. But there’s also a strong argument for sliding him into the two-hole and using Drake Baldwin to start things off.
Baldwin has handled leadoff duty well during Acuña’s absence, posting a .371 OBP and giving the Braves a steady presence at the top. Batting Baldwin first and Acuña second would also help Atlanta separate some of its left-handed bats early in the order, especially with the Mets set to start a lefty.
As Mark Bowman put it on July 26, 2026: “It will be interesting to see if Walt puts Acuña back in the leadoff spot tomorrow. Baldwin has done well since the break and with the Mets starting a lefty, it may make sense to split the two LHHs (Baldwin and Olson) by going Baldwin, Acuña, Olson.
What would be your order?”
That setup would give the Braves a dangerous top three with Baldwin, Acuña and Matt Olson. It also keeps the lineup from stacking too many similar looks too early, which matters when games start turning into bullpen battles.
From there, Michael Harris II fits neatly behind Olson. Harris owns the team’s third-best wRC+ at 124 this season, so he gives Atlanta another quality bat in the middle of the order. Ozzie Albies then makes sense in the five spot, where he can wait for the chance to hit right-handed if opposing teams bring in a lefty to face Olson and Harris.
The rest of the order can be shaped by who’s swinging it best at the moment. Mauricio Dubón, Austin Riley, Mike Yastrzemski and Dominic Smith are the names expected to fill out the lineup, with the 7-9 spots likely to shift depending on form.
Eli White and Jim Jarvis could still factor in as spot options, but Atlanta’s depth would look even stronger once Ha-Seong Kim and Sean Murphy are back. For now, Walt Weiss has plenty of choices. The real change may come at the very top, where a new look could give the Braves the cleanest path forward.
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