Well, folks, it is March. That means regular season games happen later this month and we will hopefully have meaningful games for the seven months that follow.
But, there are still almost four weeks of Spring Training games left, which means there is still time for the Atlanta Braves 2026 Opening Day roster to evolve.
Back on Valentine’s Day, we published the first Spring Training roster projection. Now that the Braves have are weeks-deep into the Grapefruit League, there are a few change from the initial
projection. Part of that is due to a subtraction and an addition to take into account.
As a reminder, this projection is based on who is on the Braves’ 40-man roster or in camp with the team at this moment in time and assumes that everyone is “healthy” when Opening Day rolls around. All the usual caveats apply related to injuries, acquisitions and the like.
Position Players
Catcher: Drake Baldwin
First base: Matt Olson
Second base: Ozzie Albies
Shortstop: Mauricio Dubón
Third base: Austin Riley
Right field: Ronald Acuña, Jr.
Center field: Micheal Harris II
Left field: Mike Yastrzemski
Designated hitter: Jurickson Profar
Bench: Jonah Heim, Eli White, Jorge Mateo, Kyle Farmer
The only change here is catcher Sandy León as he leaves the initial roster in favor of non-roster invitee Kyle Farmer. Farmer, a local product who went to Marist High School and then UGA, will turn 36 on August 17, and brings nine years of big league experience to the Braves. León will likely head to Triple-A to provide depth but more importantly help develop the pitching staff.
Farmer make the roster thanks to 300 career games at shortstop, 200+ games at second base, more than 160 appearances at third base – and most importantly for the Braves roster construction – 19 games behind the plate. Although he hasn’t caught in a game since making 15 starts in 2019, he would be the team’s third catcher, third shortstop and to slot into the 26th man spot allowing Atlanta to use fleet-footed reserve shortstop Jorge Mateo as a pinch-runner without risking two key defensive positions should something incredibly fluky occur.
Wild Cards: Dominic Smith, Luke Williams, Chadwick Tromp, Nacho Alvarez, Jr., Ben Gamel
Big league veteran Dominic Smith was a late addition to the Braves camp as a depth option at first base. If he sticks with the organization, he will likely be the latest veteran to provide the team some insurance at Triple-A in case Matt Olson were to miss time. It seems unlikely he’ll make the Opening Day roster at this point, but things could change should his bat get hot in the next three weeks.
Nacho Alvarez, Jr. and Chadwick Tromp are both headed to the World Baseball Classic have have been optioned and reassigned from camp, respectively. Both will head to Gwinnett to get regular playing time as the likely first-man-up should the team need an infielder or catcher. Luke Williams can’t be counted out since he can cover shortstop, pinch-run, and has proven to be a highly-effective position-player-pitcher, which might matter since the Braves start the year with 13 consecutive games, but also seems most likley to be a Striper when the season begins.
Outfielder Ben Gamel enters the chat, although he’d likley only make the roster should Atlanta need to replace one of their corner outfielders for Opening Day. He’s another long-time big leaguer who will likley add depth with the Stripers.
Pitchers
Starting pitchers: Chris Sale, Spencer Strider, Reynaldo Lopez, Grant Holmes, Bryce Elder, Joey Wentz
Bullpen: Raisel Iglesias, Robert Suarez, Dylan Lee, Tyler Kinley, Aaron Bummer, Joel Payamps, James Karinchak
Last time, Dylan Dodd was on the roster due to the mistaken believe that he was out of options. Because Dodd does have an option remaining, James Karinchak makes the 26-man roster as it looks like he has returned to the form he had when he was an elite reliever for Cleveland before dealing with injuries. Should Karinchak make the roster, it would be his first big league spot since 2023.
This projection continues to stick with belief that the Braves will open the season with a six-man rotation – more on that below.
Wild Cards: JR Ritchie, Jose Suaréz, Martín Peréz, Hayden Harris, Dylan Dodd
Unfortunately, Hurston Waldrep’s elbow issues will cause him to miss at least the first couple of months of the season, which means JR Ritchie becomes the starting pitcher most likley to make his way on to the Opening Day roster. Ritchie has looked good early in camp and Atlanta could be tempted to bring him north to Atlanta for the regular season – even if the play would be to give him a couple of starts since the Braves won’t have an off-day until 14 days into the season.
Martín Perez and Jose Suaréz could both factor into the sixth-starter/long-man role, but at this point, it seems like only an injury could cause that to happen.
Two weeks into Spring Training and the two pitchers who might be able to force their way on to the Opening Day roster are Dodd and Hayden Harris. Both left-handers have been effective thus far in camp, but Harris and his unusual pitch mix landed on an off-season top reliever prospect list and after a spectacular 2025 season in the minors, has nothing left to prove below the big league level.
Will this new coaching staff believe in Harris enough to give him an opportunity to prove himself in Atlanta to start the season? Time will tell if Harris continues to have a strong camp.
Barring an injury or trade, both Harris and Dodd should be a factor with Atlanta in 2026, but those pesky options may prevent them from seeing Opening Day with the Braves if Atlanta opts to maximize their roster flexibility.
Last thing, neither of these first two projections have included reliever Ian Hamilton who is on the 40-man roster and was highly effective a couple of seasons ago out of the New York Yankees bullpen. That wasn’t an oversight, but he could factor into the Opening Day roster, but as of now, Joel Payamps holds on to the last right-handed reliever spot in the bullpen thanks in part to a $2.5M commitment for 2026.
Things may change again in two weeks, and hopefully if they do, it is only because of outstanding performance and not because of something negative.
