The Kansas City Royals and Atlanta Braves are set to begin their respective 2026 campaigns on Friday afternoon at Truist Park. A pair of left-handers will square off on the mound, as Kansas City sends Cole Ragans and Atlanta sends Chris Sale to toe the rubber. Ragans enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2024, but injuries limited him to just 13 starts a season ago. Now fully healthy, he should be able to begin the new season on a high note.
The Braves are in a bit of a transitional phase, as they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2017 last season and have a new manager at the helm taking over for Brian Snitker. Weiss owned a .436 winning percentage as the manager of the Rockies from 2013-16; it will be interesting to see how he approaches his first game in Atlanta.
Sale won the National League Cy Young award in 2024, and like Ragans, endured an injury-plagued 2025 season. However, Sale is much older than Ragans, as he is entering his age 37 season, which presents some serious question marks as to how effective he will be this year. The Royals have a well-rounded lineup that is led by early MVP candidate Bobby Witt Jr, and the Royals could be a dark horse pick to win the AL Central this season. All in all, I give Ragans and the Royals the edge over Sale and the Braves. Make it a small play, but consider backing the Royals on the money line with odds of +120.
Royals vs Braves prediction: Kansas City Royals ML (+120) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.
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