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NORTH PORT, FLORIDA - MARCH 24: Mike Yastrzemski #18 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates with teammates in the dugout after hitting a home run in the fourth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays during a Grapefruit League spring training game at CoolToday Park on March 24, 2026 in North Port, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) | Getty Images
After a 6-0 thumping of the Royals in the season opener, the Braves will deploy their perhaps more-standard, righty-pitcher-facing lineup in Game Two. This means Mike Yastrzemski takes over in left field and the five spot, while Dominic Smith slots in at DH, hitting eighth.
on the mound!The cast of characters for the Royals is pretty similar to what you saw yesterday, except that Kyle Isbel and Jac Caglianone are now patrolling the outfield in lieu of Starling Marte and Lane Thomas, who drew Opening Day starts due to the Braves starting a southpaw in Chris Sale.
So, both teams are basically swapping two spots, but otherwise doing battle with the same pawns (or rooks or queens or what have you, as the case may be).
As far as matchups go, let’s get to it.
Though Michael Wacha’s been around forever, this Braves lineup only has 44 collective PAs across six batters against him, and only Ozzie Albies and Yastrzemski have double digits on that front, with 11 and 10, respectively. Austin Riley, Matt Olson, and Mauricio Dubon have all hit Wacha well in a tiny sample, while Albies and his buddy Ronald Acuña Jr. have not (also in a tiny sample).
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The Royals lineup has a similar-ish level of familiarity with Reynaldo Lopez (42 PAs), with more than half of those courtesy of Salvador Perez, who spent a long time facing off against Lopez in the AL Central. Perez has a .380 xwOBA off the right-hander, but just a .290 wOBA. No one else really has enough PAs to be worth mentioning:
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First pitch is at 7:15 pm EDT.
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