NL DIVISION SERIES: BRAVES VS DODGERS

October 7, 2026

Walt Weiss

Truist Park

Atlanta Braves

Pregame 4 Press Conference

Q. We haven't seen the lineup, is Ronald playing right field?

WALT WEISS: He's running around outside right now. I have a pretty good feeling that he's going to be in right field. That's the likely scenario.

Q. How limited is he? Is he limited or is it just a little sore?

WALT WEISS: Just a little sore. If he is limited, I think it's minimally.

Q. Everything in the postseason obviously is just more meaningful, more magnified. Losing an ABS challenge early in the game, does that put the lineup or the team at a bit of a disadvantage in strategically trying to utilize that and have it available for the late innings?

WALT WEISS: It can, depending on the circumstances. I've talked about this a lot. It's easy to say after the fact. But the ABS, the whole thing, I think you've got to be careful trying to script it or dictate the perfect situation for it. You don't know what it's going to lead to, even if it's early.

My message has always been, the lower the leverage, the more certainty you need to have and vice versa. But at the end of the day, trust your eyes. Because I think if you start trying to dictate ABS and wait for the perfect situation, that's probably not going to go well either.

So I don't mandate anything. We've had a handful of talks about ABS over the course of the season, when we felt like we've struggled a little bit with it. We've kind of regrouped and talked about it.

But it can, it can hurt you if you lose one early, certainly. At the same time, if you get one early, it might lead to a three-run inning. We just don't know.

Q. Mahle making the start today. He went seven innings in Game 2 of the Wild Card. What is it about his makeup that makes him built for these kinds of moments?

WALT WEISS: I think he's just a good pitcher. Slow heartbeat. That's what I've seen since he's been with us. Got a really good split finger and commands the ball. He can execute pitches. And that's what he's done with us. He's been really, really good for us.

His fastball, typically north and south, and the split works off of that. He's got a good cutter that I think is very complementary to the other pitches. Occasional slider. And he commands the ball. He executes pitches.

Q. Can we expect to see Tellez in the starting lineup today against Glasnow?

WALT WEISS: It was a conversation. Murphy has caught Mahle I think every time out. And it's been a really good thing. We don't want to mess with that. So Murph will catch, Drake will DH.