Coming into the 2026 season, the Royals had a lot of hype and enthusiasm surrounding them, from the fans, local media and even the national media. I think it’s fair to say that two games into the season, a lot of that enthusiasm and excitement has dissipated. A shutout on Opening Day and a blown save in game two, puts the Royals on the verge of being swept to open the season.
Sitting at 0-2, the Royals will be deploying Seth Lugo for the Sunday afternoon contest in Atlanta. Lugo, pitched in the World
Baseball Classic for Puerto Rico, but also a little bit for Kansas City in Spring Training. After a fantastic first season for the Royals in 2024, Lugo struggled last year and was also hurt at different times. Today, he hopes to start his third season with the club right and help lead them to their first victory as well.
Here is the Royals lineup for today’s contest.
It’s not much different than last night’s lineup against Reynaldo Lopez, except Nick Loftin starts at second base instead of Jonathan India, who is off to a rough start. Lane Thomas also gets the nod in left field over Isaac Collins, who is also struggling currently, and Carter Jensen and Salvador Perez change positions.
As for the Atlanta Braves, they are off to a great start despite missing a lot of their stars. They have mashed their way to two victories over the Royals. 4 home runs, make up 8 of their 12 runs on the season. Right hander Grant Holmes will start for them today.
Here is the lineup for the Braves against Seth Lugo.
Can the Royals avoid a sweep and not be winless going into their home opener? Can the offense do anything after putting up just two runs over the first two games of the season? Hopefully the answer to both of those questions is yes, but we won’t know until 12:35 p.m. CT to get our answer, as first pitch on Royals.TV will be then.
