Braves host the Royals in the season opener

Kansas City Royals vs. Atlanta Braves

Atlanta; Friday, 7:15 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Cole Ragans (0-0); Braves: Chris Sale (0-0)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Braves -143, Royals +121; over/under is 7 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Atlanta Braves start the season at home against the Kansas City Royals.

Atlanta went 76-86 overall and 39-42 at home a season ago. The Braves averaged 8.3 hits per game last season and totaled 190 home runs.

Kansas City went 82-80 overall and 39-42 on the road a season ago. The Royals batted .247 as a team in the 2025 season with a .706 OPS.

INJURIES: Braves: AJ Smith-Shawver: 15-Day IL (elbow), Ha-Seong Kim: 10-Day IL (finger), Spencer Strider: 15-Day IL (oblique), Danny Young: 15-Day IL (elbow), Daysbel Hernandez: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Sean Murphy: 10-Day IL (hip), Hurston Waldrep: 15-Day IL (elbow), Spencer Schwellenbach: 60-Day IL (elbow), Joe Jimenez: 60-Day IL (knee), Joey Wentz: 60-Day IL (knee)

Royals: Stephen Kolek: 15-Day IL (oblique), James McArthur: 15-Day IL (elbow), Michael Massey: 10-Day IL (calf), Alec Marsh: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.