Ronald Acuña Jr. set to bat leadoff for Atlanta Braves in his return

The lineups are out for tonight’s series opener between the Atlanta Braves and the San Diego Padres and I’d imagine that all eyes on this particular lineup post are squarely focused on what’s going on at the top of the lineup. There are no surprises there for the first time in a while and it’s truly lovely to see it.

Here’s Atlanta’s lineup:

There he is. The former MVP is at the top of Atlanta’s order, as Ronald Acuña Jr. will be starting in right field and batting first in his return to the bigs after nearly a full year away from the game. Needless to say, the excitement is palpable.

Another big question had to do wit what would happen with Alex Cerdugo and Eli White going forward. Well, we’ve got the answer to one of those questions, as Eli White is out of the lineup and Alex Verdugo is starting in left and batting fifth. I’d imagine that’ll change with the handedness of the pitcher so we’ll see how this goes fgoing forwad. For now, there’s your answer.

Here’s San Diego’s lineup as well:

The top four for San Diego is identical to their most recent game. Xander Bogaerts is back in the lineup and batting fifth while playing shortstop. Jose Iglesias has moved over to second base after playing shortstop last time, which means that Jake Cronenworth will be starrting this game on the bench.

Tonight’s game starts at 7:15 p.m. ET.