Projecting Dodgers' Opening Day lineup after Dave Roberts' comments on Kyle Tucker

The Dodgers made their deal with Kyle Tucker official on Wednesday, and the press conference went about as expected. Tucker came to the Dodgers because he wants to win, he's excited to play with all of the other stars on the team, he'll do his best, and so on and so forth.

The more interesting stuff came after Tucker got his jersey and his photo op. Andrew Friedman said that the roster felt pretty set now, and that they're no longer in the market for more starting pitching. Dave Roberts confirmed that Teoscar Hernández would be moving back to left field. And he included a curious glimpse into next year's lineup: Tucker will bat second or third.

He added, "Don't hold me to that," which is a useful caveat, but if that's how things end up looking, it's an interesting deviation from projected lineups we've seen previously, most of which had Tucker batting fifth behind Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Will Smith.

That configuration made a lot of sense — it perfectly balanced the lineup with lefties and righties, with Tommy Edman rounding everything out as a switch hitter. The Dodgers definitely want to get $60 million worth of at-bats out of Tucker, but it would force a top-three mainstay down the order.

Projecting Dodgers' 2026 Opening Day lineup if Kyle Tucker bats second or third

Guessing based on what we know, this will be the Dodgers' Opening Day starting lineup:

1. Shohei Ohtani (L)
2. Mookie Betts (R)
3. Kyle Tucker (L)
4. Will Smith (R)
5. Freddie Freeman (L)
6. Teoscar Hernández (R)
7. Max Muncy (L)
8. Andy Pages (R)
9. Tommy Edman (S)

Tucker and Freeman switching makes a lot more sense and would be cleaner than putting lefties Ohtani and Tucker back-to-back at the very top of the order, moving Betts to hit third, Freeman fourth, and so on. But Freeman has spent most of his career batting third because he's very, very good at it. He has a lifetime .298 average and .900 OPS hitting there.

To be fair, he's been slowing down. The Dodgers have hinted that they're preparing to give him built-in off days in 2026, and he withdrew from the World Baseball Classic because of health concerns.

Still, it'll be weird to see Freddie Freeman that far down the line. The fact that the Dodgers can just hide an MVP and probably a future Hall of Famer in the very middle of the lineup is an astounding luxury. And if anyone can be trusted to adjust to his new spot with grace, it's him.