When Jurickson Profar signed with the Atlanta Braves, there was a lot of talk about where he could hit in the lineup. I argued before he signed that Atlanta should sign him as the ideal 2-hole hitter in a healthy Braves lineup that features superstar Ronald Acuña Jr. head of the squad. When Ronald was unavailable last year, his spot was primarily filled by Michael Harris II. If Profar is set to stay at No. 2 for the long term, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Harris in the lead to start the year (perhaps with Ozzie taking the lead over LHP), and many have speculated that would be the case during the mid-season break. However, the initial rosters in Spring Training seem to indicate otherwise.

Jurickson Profar Jurassic Profar Shirt

In previous springs, the Braves seemed to come into camp with an idea of ​​how they planned to line up on Opening Day. For example, if memory serves correctly, Matt Olson hit No. 2 throughout Spring Training in both 2022 and 2023, and that’s where he opened each of those seasons before finding his way back to clean up later. The Braves open their season at San Diego, where they will almost certainly face a RHP in the first at-bat (likely Michael King or Dylan Cease). Based on early spring training rosters and assuming health — I expect the Opening Day roster to be identical to the one introduced Wednesday, except that Murphy will line up ahead of Kelenic. When a left-hander is on the mound in the weeks leading up to Acuña’s return, I expect Bryan de la Cruz to replace Kelenic, and you could also see Harris and Ozzie swap spots. And when Ronald returns, I expect him to reclaim his place at the top while everyone else drops a spot.

As for Profar – who is probably the best on-base threat on the team outside of Acuña – he would be a great choice for the opener. The batting order split hasn’t typically proven consistent year-over-year (which is probably why the team tried to move Olson back to No. 2 in 2023 even as he appeared to thrive on cleanup in the second half of 2022), but it’s hard to ignore Profar’s stellar performance away from the opener in 2024. In 19 games and 83 PA, he walked a lot. better (10.8% BB) than strikeouts (8.4% K) and hit .380/.451/.620 for a 197 wRC+. The Braves don’t expect anything like that, but they’ll be delighted if they get anything within 30 points of his .380 OBP total from 2024.