Braves shortstop – Braves manager Walt Weiss said the team’s shortstop plan is shifting “day-to-day,” with Jorge Mateo set to start Friday in Cincinnati in place of Ha-Seong Kim. Weiss framed the approach as a rotation tied to who is hitting well, aimed at keeping 13 position pl
CINCINNATI — In the hours before the opener of a three-game series against the Reds, the Braves’ shortstop decision didn’t sound like a long-term answer. It sounded like a moving target.
“We’ve got a bit of a rotation at the shortstop position,” manager Walt Weiss said Friday, laying out how Atlanta will handle the position in the short term.
“It’s a day-to-day thing,” Weiss added. He described the constant balancing act that comes with juggling 13 position players and keeping them involved. “You play the guys that are swinging the bat well, and you ride that wave.”
The first test of that plan came in Cincinnati. Jorge Mateo was set to start against the Reds, starting in place of Ha-Seong Kim.
Weiss also acknowledged what happens to that kind of decision once a season is moving. When a manager talks about riding the wave, the next question is always what the wave means in practice: who stays ready, who gets the start, and what changes when the hitter’s timing shifts.
For Mateo, the opportunity comes while Atlanta is leaning into the idea that shortstop at-bats can be earned day by day. Kim is not sitting out without reason; the Braves are simply matching starts to form.
The manager’s approach is built on constant evaluation rather than fixed roles. Weiss said he has talked about the challenge of “juggling 13 position players. ” and the way he tries to “keep everyone involved as best I can.” In a lineup where timing can change quickly. his message was that the Braves will keep putting the ball in play with the most momentum at the moment.
That’s why the shortstop situation reads less like a decision that’s been locked in and more like a routine the Braves are willing to revisit as the series goes on. Mateo gets the start Friday in Cincinnati. Kim’s role comes next time, depending on who is swinging hardest and when.
Weiss’s insistence on the daily nature of it is also, at its core, about readiness. It’s an approach meant to prevent players from feeling like their season turns on a single announcement.
The Braves open the weekend with that mindset firmly in place, and as long as Weiss stays with “day-to-day,” the shortstop position will remain something both manageable—and unpredictable—game by game.
Chad Bishop is the Atlanta Braves beat writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Walt Weiss Atlanta Braves shortstop situation Jorge Mateo Ha-Seong Kim Cincinnati Reds three-game series MLB
So they just rotate shortstop based on vibes?
“Riding the wave” sounds nice until it’s July and nobody knows who the shortstop is. I swear this is how you lose chemistry.
Wait, I thought Ha-Seong Kim was the starter, now it’s Mateo? Don’t they realize starting every day-to-day like this messes with timing. Also 13 position players?? that’s like… a whole softball team lol.
This reminds me of when my cousin got benched and the coach said it was “day to day” too. It usually means the dude’s about to be gone. Mateo starting Friday in Cincinnati is cool I guess, but if Kim isn’t “without reason” then what reason is it, like injury or just batting practice mood?