The quartet of players giving the Braves their deepest bench in years

A .302 average and a walk-off grand slam. A homer in three straight games. A 1.063 OPS over the past month. A .400 average with runners in scoring position and two outs.

These could be the highlights of an All-Star or even an MVP candidate. But in this case, they represent some of the individual contributions of Dominic Smith, Mauricio Dubón, Mike Yastrzemski and Jorge Mateo, a quartet of players the Braves acquired to be platoon or depth pieces but who have been pressed into bigger roles through circumstance and have emerged as some of the key ingredients to the team's success in 2026.

In fact, the group has given Atlanta its deepest bench in years, with each providing multiple big moments during the first two months and collectively performing at a level not expected when each was acquired before the season.

One could even argue that Smith, Dubón, Yastrzemski and Mateo are collectively among the top two or three reasons why the Braves have rebounded from a bad 2025 and produced a stellar 2026.

Before we break them down individually, a look at their group work:

• Entering Tuesday, the four have a combined .268 average and a .751 OPS. Both numbers are well above league average (.242/.712).
• They've produced 19 homers and 92 RBIs, and have a .329 average with runners in scoring position.
• They have 23 game-tying or go-ahead RBIs, including six game-winning RBIs.
• As starters, they're hitting .362 with two outs and runners in scoring position, with 13 go-ahead RBIs.

Bottom line: They've been reliable and productive. Here's a deeper look.

Smith

A career .250 hitter with a .720 OPS coming into the season, the veteran Smith has leveled up in his time with the Braves. He was signed to a split contract late in Spring Training after the PED suspension of Jurickson Profar, who was slated to be the Braves' primary designated hitter, and Smith has certainly made the most of the opportunity. He enters Tuesday batting .302 (which would easily be a career high over a full season) with an .817 OPS. When he starts, he's batting .317 with an .856 OPS and has a .500 average (7-for-14) with two outs and runners in scoring position. His success has made him a dark horse candidate for the NL All-Star team. Not bad for a guy who initially signed a Minor League contract in February.

Dubón

Acquired in an offseason trade with the Astros, the Gold Glove-winning utilityman was originally seen mostly as a backup to shortstop Ha-Seong Kim, but was pressed into regular starting duty when Kim missed most of the first two months with a finger injury sustained in the offseason. But shortstop aside, Dubón has gotten near-everyday playing time because of his ability to play multiple positions -- and he's thrived. He enters Tuesday hitting .352 with runners in scoring position, including a .407 average with RISP and two outs.

Yastrzemski

After a strong Spring Training, Yastrzemski struggled in the early part of the season, hitting just .209 with a .555 OPS through April. But he began to warm up in May and over the past calendar month has hit .313 with a 1.063 OPS. He has six go-ahead RBIs on the season, including a walk-off double against the Red Sox, his Hall of Fame grandfather's former team. Over a nine-game stretch from May 12-21 (26 plate appearances), he slugged .955.

Mateo

The speedy Mateo was signed to a one-year deal a day after it was announced that Kim would start the season on the injured list, and the plan was for him to be the backup to Dubón at shortstop and serve as a pinch-runner late in games. But Mateo began forcing his way into the lineup with a hot bat, and he's become somewhat of a lineup regular as Kim has struggled since his return from the IL in May. As a starter, Mateo is hitting .308 with three homers and an .832 OPS. Overall, he has a .400 average with RISP.

The four have represented quite a turnaround for Braves reserves in recent years.

Though there's no perfect stat to measure the quality of a team's bench from year to year, consider this: From 2022-25, Atlanta's pinch-hitters hit .213 with a .611 OPS and 28 RBIs. That RBI total ranked last in the NL during that time while the OPS ranked next to last.

This season, Braves pinch-hitters had 17 RBIs through Sunday (best in the NL) and were batting .273 (second-best) with a .782 OPS (fourth-best). Nearly half of those RBIs (eight) have come from the quartet of Smith, Dubón, Yastrzemski and Mateo. And while each of the four has had a bigger impact as a starter, they've each given manager Walt Weiss the confidence to use them off the bench when the situation calls.

That's the definition of the deep bench, which could potentially help propel the Braves deep into the postseason.