Dubon, Mateo and Smith, Oh My!
Lots of reasons have been put forth to explain the Atlanta Braves' excellent start to the 2026 season.
The starting pitching has been surprisingly strong- especially the work of Bryce Elder. The bullpen has been smooth and efficient--Dylan Lee, Robert Suarez and Raisel Iglesias have emerged as a tough trio for the opposition in the late innings .
Matt Olson rocketed out of tbe gate at an MVP- like pace. And Drake Baldwin has quickly and quietly established himself as one of the best hitting catchers in the game...until he went out May 18 with an injury.
More recently, Michael Harris II has picked up the pace, such that the Braves have not faltered even as Baldwin has been out of tbe lineup now for nearly three weeks with an oblique injury. Over that stretch Atlanta is 13-5, using a collection of catchers, each decent defensively, but none even close to Baldwin offensively.
Today Atlanta sits at 45-21, the best record in MLB, good for a 9 game lead in the NL East.
Quietly, though, there is another prime component to the Braves' success. Namely, a much stronger and more versatile bench this year, led by the trio of Mauricio Dubon, Jorge Mateo and Dom Smith, tbree players who were not prominently on the radar screen as the year began.
It's far too early to compare straight up, but the play of this group has already brought mention of the magic men in 2021, Jorge Soler, Eddie Rosario and Joc Pederson.
Those three players famously brought mid- season clutch production and a winning energy to a Braves' team that was still hovering around .500 in August of 2021 when they arrived. In fact, the Braves did not surpass the .500 mark until August 7. From that point, of course, the team put together a strong finish and ultimately won the World Series over Houston, four games to two. In the playoffs, those three players alternated moments of timely heroism- Pederson in the Divisional round, Rosario as MVP of the NLCS and Soler as MVP in the Series.
This year's bench help has been solid from the get go. The unanticipated absence of Jurickson Profar has become a footnote, because of Dubon and Smith. The sideways progress in solving the shortstop " issue" has also become a minor problem, thanks largely to Jorge Mateo, with big help from Dubon.
Dom Smith has been a productive option at DH, and Dubon has been almost unbelievably useful - starting in 60 of 66 games played-'in four different positions: left and centerfield, plus third base and shortstop. He has six homers, and is hitting .260 with an OPS of .731 and 36 RBI's.
Mateo has started 20 games, hitting .294 with four homers and 11 RBI.
Smith contributes with an OPS of .817, and six homers to go with 28 RBI's.
Each of the three has had several clutch moments, with Smith leading the way in the opening week of the season.
Taken as a group, and used deftly by manager Walt Weiss, this group has largely mitigated the absence of Profar and the early absence and current struggles of Ha-Seong Kim. Kim was expected to command the shortstop position in 2026, but he injured a finger in the off season, and then missed spring training. He has yet to find his bearings ( .096 BA , with 1 hit in last 18 at- bats), and Weiss is not making a secret of his preference to field the best team possible, regardless of who holds a big contract.
As a bonus, Jorge Mateo brings speed and ambition to the baserunning aspect of the game. That talent bore fruit on Sunday when Mateo scored the eventual winning run from first base on Michael Harris' bases- loaded double. Mateo is second on the team with seven stolen bases, despite only sporadic playing time.
Braves fans of longstanding may recall the name of Chsrlie Culberson. He played the Dubon- like role for the Braves in 2018. Buck Showalter summed up tbe role of tbe super- sub by saying " every good team has one of those guys".
It would appear that the Braves might actually have three of those guys, and they've already shown to be great assets for the club.
Taken together, they are a big part of the club's strong start in 2026 , and there's no sign of that changing.
Patrick Conarro
RamblinSports