This story was excerpted from Mark Bowman’s Braves Beat publication. To learn the total publication, click on right here. And subscribe to get it repeatedly in your inbox.
Although Kevin Pillar and Jesse Chavez got here to Spring Coaching as non-roster invitees final yr, the idea was each could be on Atlanta’s Opening Day roster.
This yr’s record of Braves non-roster invitees doesn’t embrace any of these assumptions. However a yr faraway from seeing Dylan Dodd make the Opening Day roster as an NRI, it will appear ignorant to say none of this yr’s NRIs will probably be with the workforce when it opens the common season in Philadelphia.
The more than likely NRI to affix Atlanta’s Opening Day roster is David Fletcher, the veteran center infielder who was acquired from the Angels in December, when Alex Anthopoulos was flipping the dangerous contracts that got here with the Jarred Kelenic commerce.
There wasn’t a lot purpose to be excited in regards to the acquisition of Fletcher, who spent most of final season with the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate. The Braves took him as a result of the Angels had been keen to tackle the $15 million owed to first baseman Evan White.
White has been an injury-plagued disappointment in MLB, and he would have at all times been behind Matt Olson in Atlanta. With Fletcher, the Braves no less than gained a center infielder who’s a greater defensive possibility than Vaughn Grissom within the utility function.
Then, Fletcher was optioned and Luis Guillorme was signed. Instantly, Fletcher was not a lock for Atlanta’s Opening Day roster. Fletcher is able to dealing with the middle-infield spots. Guillorme’s vary on the middle-infield spots lessened as he gained weight over the previous couple of years. Neither participant appears to be somebody you could possibly confidently use as a backup outfielder.
Guillorme has produced a .675 OPS over the previous three seasons, however he posted a .615 OPS in 120 massive league plate appearances final yr. Fletcher had only a .628 OPS over 97 MLB plate appearances final yr, however he’s the higher defensive possibility throughout the infield.
We are able to joke in regards to the Braves by no means actually utilizing their backup infielders. However there’s a particular want to search out somebody able to serving as a beginning shortstop or second baseman if Orlando Arcia or Ozzie Albies had been sidelined for an prolonged interval. It’s not just like the nook positions, the place you could possibly no less than briefly put Marcell Ozuna at first base.
I’m undecided Fletcher or Guillorme is the man you wish to fill a long-term void within the center infield. However these are the Braves’ finest choices for now.
So, Fletcher has to no less than be thought-about a candidate for the Opening Day roster.
What about an outfielder?
The Braves are set to enter this season with their outfield consisting of two left-handed hitters (Kelenic and Michael Harris II) and one right-handed hitter (Ronald Acuña Jr.). Including a right-handed hitter who’s able to manning every of the three spots nonetheless appears to be a necessity.
Eli White and Jordan Luplow are a few NRIs who’ve an opportunity to start the yr on Atlanta’s roster. Each are again in Braves camp for a second straight yr. Luplow’s roster bid was thwarted by an damage final yr. White was one in all Atlanta’s prime offensive performers throughout final yr’s Grapefruit League season.
The percentages of both White or Luplow gaining a roster spot improved on Friday, when Pillar signed a Minor League cope with the White Sox.
It’s going to be enjoyable to see how a few of the Braves’ veterans react to Hurston Waldrep’s splitter throughout stay batting apply classes. And there’s actually an opportunity we’ll see the extremely touted prospect (the Braves’ No. 2 prospect and No. 90 total prospect per MLB Pipeline) in some Grapefruit League video games. If nothing else, we’ll possible see him within the Spring Breakout sport that will probably be performed in opposition to Purple Sox prospects on March 16 in Fort Myers, Fla.
Waldrep isn’t going to be on Atlanta’s Opening Day roster. However one yr faraway from guiding Florida to the Faculty World Sequence, the first-round Draft choice could earn an opportunity to pitch within the Majors this yr.
May Ken Giles, a former nearer who has totaled eight innings within the Majors because the finish of the 2019 season, do the identical?
Giles may very well be this yr’s feel-good story. However with the depth in Atlanta’s bullpen, he’s nothing greater than a longshot for the Opening Day roster. That doesn’t imply he received’t be again within the Majors in some unspecified time in the future this yr.
