The Atlanta Braves' opening day is here. GPB previews the ball season

Caption

Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves, is set to open for the 2026 season.

Credit: Atlanta Braves Facebook page

The Atlanta Braves are set to open the 2026 season. After a rough 2025 campaign, America's Team is looking to right the ship. GPB's All Things Considered host and resident baseball fan Peter Biello talks with his afternoon colleague Orlando Montoya about it all. 

Orlando Montoya: All right, Peter, the Atlanta Braves kick off their season this Friday. How is this year's team shaping up?  

Peter Biello: Well, Braves fans have quite a few reasons to be optimistic. Chris Sale is the starting pitcher on Friday against the Kansas City Royals. He's nearly 37, but he's still throwing strong. Ronald Acuña Jr. is healthy. Guys like Matt Olson, Austin Riley, and Mike Yastremski have been hitting well in spring training. Here's hoping that carries forward to the regular season. And a new relief pitcher, Didier Fuentes, has a lot of fans excited based on how many zeros he put up during spring training.  

Orlando Montoya: And what about injuries?  

Peter Biello: Well, Spencer Strider, a starting pitcher, he is on the injured list for the start of the season — almost as a precaution, really — for a strained oblique. Hopefully he'll be back soon. Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrip, they're both on the injury list having had surgery in the offseason. They won't be throwing off the mound probably until around mid-season. And Hassan Kim, he was to be the starting shortstop, but he hurt his finger in the offseason, so that's gonna be a job filled by Mauricio Dubon and perhaps even Kyle Farmer, who came over from the Colorado Rockies. He's an Atlanta native, so pretty exciting for him to play for his home team.  

Orlando Montoya: And the team has a new manager, I understand. Tell me a little bit about him.  

Peter Biello: Yep, Walt Weiss is taking over. He's been a coach for the Braves for several years. He actually played for the Braves decades ago, so It'll be exciting to see how he takes the team forward now that Brian Snitker is retired.  

Orlando Montoya: And I understand Braves fans now can watch the team with a new option.  

Peter Biello: Yeah, they launched a new service, Braves.tv, so for a hundred bucks essentially, you can watch most Braves games if you are in the Braves coverage area that typically had been beset by blackouts. And for 200 bucks through the same service, you can pretty much watch any game by any team throughout the season. So a new and exciting way to watch the games if you can't make it to Truist Park.  

Orlando Montoya: All right, Peter. Thanks for the preview.