The Win Column: Opening day on deck

Well, in the hole I guess. Days-wise.

Either way: Opening day is close. And while you should feel free to get a head start on second-round voting in our tournament of joy-inducing Atlanta athletes, the Braves are batting leadoff.

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THE BOYS ARE BACK

Credit: Gerald Herbert/AP

Credit: Gerald Herbert/AP

I’m excited. Are you excited?

Yes, yes. The spring has been a bit cruel, what with the PED offender, the freak finger injury and the ever-mounting pile of ailing pitchers.

A recurring nightmare, that last part.

But opening day is always special — and Friday’s festivities at Truist Park kick off the 60th year of Braves baseball in Atlanta (or thereabouts).

Let’s prepare.

🥳 The opening series: First pitch against the visiting Kansas City Royals arrives at 7:15 p.m. Friday, with ace Chris Sale slated to do the honors. If you’re headed to the game, the team will walk through the Battery near the First Base Gate at around 4 p.m.

Everyone gets a magnetic schedule and a rally towel, too. More 2026 giveaway info here.

📺 How to watch: Friday’s game is available on Gray TV and Saturday’s is nationally broadcast on Fox.

But in terms of longterm planning: The new standalone streaming option is Braves.TV and runs $99.99 for the season. (Check out last week’s Braves Report for step-by-step directions on how to find it.)

The situation’s a little squirrellier for folks hoping to watch on their existing cable or satellite service.

Cross those fingers.

🚨 Around the stadium: Longtime “in-game host” Mark Owens returns to Truist after a multiyear hiatus. And expect more spectacle: Stadium upgrades include the addition of “theatrical lights,” which can add colors and project logos and such onto the field.

🍔 Food and drink: Of particular interest, aside from the 2-pound burger: Blue Moon Brewery & Grill cooked up a new on-site beer collab with Austin Riley. Per operations manager Mark Crouch, the Mississippi native (hilariously) requested “something between Coors Light and Coors Banquet.”

The result is Broadside Lager, 5.1% ABV.

💪 The rotation: With Spencer Strider now nursing an oblique injury, the pitching staff is stretched even further. Reynaldo López starts Saturday and figures to be followed by Grant Holmes and Bryce Elder (when the A’s come to town Monday).

From there? We’re likely looking at veteran Jose Suarez, who struggled in recent years with the Angels.

The team plans to use youngster Didier Fuentes in a long relief role for a few weeks, while fellow prospect J.R. Ritchie and reclamation project Martín Pérez are potential starting options in the not-so-distant future.

📝 The lineup: You know the regulars. Just about everything else is fluid.

Veterans Dominic Smith and Kyle Farmer — a Marist School grad who also played at UGA — made the squad too.

🤙 The general vibes: For what it’s worth, the Braves had the best record in the Grapefruit League. And fan frustration aside …

“I talk to the guys about our clubhouse being loose, fun and focused. And that’s exactly what I’ve seen,” first-year manager Walt Weiss said Tuesday. “Whether the record is a product of that, I don’t know, but there has been a different level of focus this spring.”

🔮 Prediction time: Want a prediction about the season? How about 26 of ‘em? We’ve got you covered.

📱 How to follow along: Follow our (sort of) new Braves beat writer, Chad Bishop, at @MrChadBishop. He’ll have assists from roving reporter Gabe Burns and columnists Ken Sugiura and Michael Cunningham, too.

And if you’re not already signed up for the weekly Braves Report newsletter, what’re you waiting on?

VOTE: ATLANTA’S EXCEPTIONAL EIGHT

Credit: Cayce Dunn

Credit: Cayce Dunn

Round 1 of our “which Atlanta athlete makes you happiest” bracket challenge is complete. And like the real NCAA Tournament, we saw plenty of chalk — but a few surprises, too.

✅ Nevertheless ... Round 2 is here and your matchups are as follows:

A couple juicy ones in there. Get to voting.

THE SCOTT CROSS GLOSSARY

Credit: Abbey Cutrer/AJC

Credit: Abbey Cutrer/AJC

Georgia Tech has its new men’s basketball coach. And Scott Cross — a turnaround architect fresh off taking Troy to the NCAA Tournament two years in a row — has certain phrases he likes to use.

With a hat tip to reporter Sarah Spencer, here’s the translation guide you didn’t know you needed.

Waffle House: Unlike a particular former football coach on the Flats, Cross evokes Southern hibachi for more than branding. Basically, he likes to recruit guys who aren’t too good for a little grease.

OKGs: “Our kind of guys.” Low ego, team-first, coachable. Blue collar.

Taking the stairs: When he says this, he’s talking about putting in the work. No shortcuts (or elevators, apparently).

To be fair, those all kind of mean the same thing. But it’s a pretty good philosophy and, as you’ll see below, it’s worked at both Troy and his previous stop, Texas-Arlington.

Tech just needs to pony up for any of it to mean much.

KEEP THE CA-CAWS COMING

Can’t believe we’re saying this, but 10 games remain in the Hawks’ season and they’re in primo playoff position: One game ahead of Philadelphia for the Eastern Conference’s sixth seed. Half a game behind Toronto and No. 5.

But can they keep it up?

The squad’s hot streak (now 12 wins in 13 games) came mostly via beating up on bad teams. But tankathon.com ranks their remaining strength of schedule the fifth-hardest in the NBA.

Atlanta plays Detroit (the East’s top-seeded team) tonight and Boston (the No. 2 seed) on Friday. Both games are on the road … and will set the pace for the final stretch.

OTHER GOOD STUFF TO KNOW

🏈 Incoming Falcons quarterback Tua Tagovailoa met the local press for the first time and said he’s ready to compete — while also playing nice with incumbent Michael Penix Jr.

⚽ The U.S. Men’s national team is preparing for a pair of World Cup warmups at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The first friendly arrives at 3:30 p.m. Saturday vs. Belgium. Cristiano Ronaldo won’t play in Tuesday night’s follow-up against Portugal.

🏀 The Atlanta Dream will host not one but five games at State Farm Arena this season. They include one matchup with the defending champion Las Vegas Aces and two with Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Credit: Abbey Cutrer/AJC

Credit: Abbey Cutrer/AJC

Ninety-eight-year-old Jane Hostetter has been a die-hard Braves fan for decades, and she’s still going strong. Bless every bit of her.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Thanks for reading to the very bottom of the Win Column. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.

Until next time.