Alex Verdugo leads off in Braves debut

Well then! Can’t say that this was expected!

The Atlanta Braves have revealed their starting lineup for the series opener against the Minnesota Twins and Brian Snitker has decided to throw his newest outfielder right into the thick of it to see what he’s got. Not only is Alex Verdugo starting tonight’s game in left field, he’s leading off in his 2025 regular season debut.

Here are the lineups in full:

For what it’s worth, Verdugo spent 80 games in 2023 with the Red Sox as their leadoff hitter but it’s certainly not his usual role in any given lineup. He made 33 appearances as the leadoff hitter during the shortened 2020 season and only played 17 games in the role last season. In all the other seasons of his big league career, he led off only once or twice a season. With that being said, Snitker has been regularly tinkering with the lineup all season so it’s not really a huge surprise that he’s done some more tinkering. Still, it is a bit surprising that he’s throwing Verdugo in there right at the top of the lineup to get his season started. If it works, then it works. Go get em, man!

For what it’s worth, Verdugo produced a wRC+ of 114 in the 33 games where he led off during 2020 and then he followed that up with a wRC+ of 110 as the leadoff hitter in 2023. Clearly, the Braves will be hoping that he’ll be able to reach back and reclaim some of that success he had in that role back in the past.

Also, Marcell Ozuna is back in the lineup after missing the entire series in Toronto due to hip inflammation. He was sent back to Atlanta for an MRI, the MRI suggested that he didn’t have any structural damage and that he was day-to-day and now three days later, he’s back in the order. Atlanta utilized two catchers in the lineup for a couple of games while Ozuna was out and now Drake Baldwin is back on the bench with Sean Murphy starting tonight’s contest.

We’ll have the Twins lineup here for you later but for now, discuss this move for a bit.

[UPDATE: 5:55 p.m.]: The Twins have released their lineup. We’ve got a big debut on our hands tonight, as Twins top prospect Luke Keaschall will be making his big league debut this evening.