Mauricio

Dubón

The Braves entered the eighth inning trailing 6-2, but they never gave up. Dubon delivered a bases-clearing triple that made it a one-run game, then scampered home on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Austin Riley to tie it. The versatile 31-year-old finished the night 2-for-5 and is now hitting .281/.328/.439 with a pair of homers and 18 RBI.

Dubón’s fly that dropped in front of Brandon Marsh in center ended the scoring for the night in the 3-1 game. Dubón is hitting .315/.359/.479 while getting regular playing time with Ha-Seong Kim out. As of right now, Braves fans would probably want him to keep playing regularly after Kim returns. Still, the offense figures to decline; he was a lifetime .257/.295/.374 hitter coming into 2026.

Harris will be away from the club to be with his family on paternity leave for the next couple days. It’ll likely be Eli White and Mauricio Dubón handling center field in his absence.

It’s the first day off on the season for the 29-year-old slugger, though he may still appear as a pinch-hitter in a critical spot off the bench. Mauricio Dubon will start in his place at the hot corner and bat seventh while Jorge Mateo draws a start at shortstop and will hit ninth against Brandon Pfaadt and the Diamondbacks.

Dubón reached on a fielder’s choice and scored during the Braves’ eight-run uprising in the fifth inning. He then tagged right-hander Joe Ross for a 413-foot (101.7 mph EV) solo shot in the sixth inning that extended the Braves’ advantage to 11-1. He also drew a walk and singled in the ballgame, finishing the night 2-for-4. The versatile 31-year-old is off to a strong start at the dish this season, hitting .400/.455/.600 with a homer and six RBI in his first 22 plate appearances.

Dubón was caught stealing, and he also made his second error of the year. It’s still a successful evening for the 31-year-old, who drove in two runs on a double and another on a single. With Ha-Seong Kim out of action until at least June — likely longer — Dubón has a long leash as the starting shortstop for Atlanta.

Mark Bowman of MLB.com adds that Kim suffered the injury when he fell on ice while in Korea. He underwent surgery in Atlanta on Sunday to repair the injury. That means the slick-fielding 30-year-old won’t be available to help out the Braves until the end of May at the earliest estimate. In the meantime, the Braves are likely to slot in Mauricio Dubón as their starting shortstop.

The deal is official. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that Kim turned down multi-year offers elsewhere to return to Atlanta, where he’ll serve as the club’s starting shortstop — pushing versatile Mauricio Dubón to a utility role — before re-entering free agency next winter in pursuit of a larger payday. The 30-year-old middle infielder, who turned down a $16 million player option last month to hit the open market, posted an underwhelming .234/.304/.345 slash line with five homers and six steals across 191 plate appearances split between the Rays and Braves this past season after working his way back from offseason shoulder surgery. From a career-arc standpoint, Atlanta represents about as clean a runway as Kim could ask for to rebuild long-term value, offering everyday reps on a competitive roster without the immediate pressure of a long-term commitment. From a fantasy perspective, though, the bar at shortstop remains high enough that he profiles as more of a deeper mixed-league option with power/speed combo ceiling upside heading into next spring.

Financial terms of the accord have yet to be reported. It’s the final season of arbitration-eligibility for the versatile 31-year-old who earned $5 million in his final season with the Astros in 2025. Dubón has an opportunity to serve as the Braves’ starting shortstop to open the 2026 campaign, provided the Braves don’t bring in another option this winter to challenge him.

The versatile 31-year-old was plucked from the Astros on Wednesday in a swap for Nick Allen. While the team would be thrilled with his defense at the position, Dubón posted a troublesome .644 OPS in 398 plate appearances with the Astros during the 2025 season. It sounded like nothing more than posturing, saying that the team was comfortable with Dubón there if they’re somehow unable to upgrade the position over the remainder of the offseason. One alternative could be reuniting with Ha-Seong Kim who declined his $16 million player option at the end of the season and hit the open market.