The Braves will carry 26 players to D.C. on March 30th for Opening Day. With Alex Anthopoulos playing the service time game, many players that had MiLB options who were definitely worthy of a roster spot, were optioned to Minor League camp. Those players: Jordan Luplow Eli White Nick Anderson Vaughn Grissom Braden Shewmake In my last piece where I predicted the Opening Day roster, I swung and missed on 3 of the above but, admittedly, I thought AA would play the team control game and option Nick Anderson and Jordan Luplow, but convinced myself to stop being stubborn. From now on, I’m going t ..read more

Yesterday, Alex Anthopolous optioned a whole lot of Braves to the MILB camp. Here’s the list: The Braves today optioned RHP Nick Anderson, INF Vaughn Grissom, INF Braden Shewmake, OF Jordan Luplow and OF Eli White to Triple-A Gwinnett, & reassigned LHP Danny Young, C Ryan Casteel, C Joe Hudson and INF Yolmer Sánchez to minor league camp. Atlanta now has 32 players in camp — Atlanta Braves (@Braves) March 20, 2023 There are a few semi-surprising names here that likely deserved shots at the Opening Day Roster: Jordan Luplow, Eli White, Nick Anderson. These 3 are cusp players that have op ..read more

After being shelved for a bit due to a cortisone injection in his pitching shoulder, Kyle Wright made his debut today, and it wasn’t great (not that I was expecting great). In 2.2 innings, Wright gave up 4 runs on 5 hits, including 2 home runs and a double. He was then pulled mid-hitter (likely due to a strict pitch count limit, but it’s at least worth noting). It was his first start of the spring and results matter very little, but after his outing, he was interviewed and his answers made me a little squidgy. Wright said the velo drop with his last few fastballs was a product of him making ..read more

In the early days of Spring Training, not seeing what one would consider to be an offensive regular in action for 3 straight spring training games would be no big deal. Now that the Braves are less than 2 weeks away from real games and Vaughn Grissom is out of the lineup for the 3rd straight game AND is not listed as one of the reserves definitely has me feeling a little uneasy. It makes me feel even more uneasy when Braden Shewmake is once again in the lineup with what looks like the A squad. There are a few things that could be going on: Vaughn has tweaked something and just needs a few da ..read more

In a move that really caught me by surprise, the Braves sent 2 (of what I assumed to be 2 of the 3 top candidates) Starting Pitching candidates, Bryce Elder and Ian Anderson, back to MiLB camp. The surprise wasn’t in the actual move, rather the timing of the move. This type of move is normally reserved for players on MiLB invites, players that are buried on a depth chart, or players that are not on the 40-man roster or do not have MLB experience. If this were a multiple choice test, the test-taker would have had to bubble in “E ” for N/A. There’s a possibility that Ian and Elder are just bein ..read more

Before we get to the post, I want to respond to the last thread. Are Spring Training stats meaningless? Loaded question, but…Yes. They mean nothing. No team is going to start a season 1-0 because it carried the best spring training record. No player’s home runs or .400 batting average is transferable to Opening Day. No pitcher’s 12 innings in ST of 0.00 ER A and 18 strikeouts will be remembered after an Opening day disaster by allowing 4 runs in the first inning. Spring Training is practice. There’s no denying it. There’s nothing in practice that can be teleported to a meaningful game, but do ..read more

Scene: Anthopoulos sits at the head of a table that seats 12. 11 of his constituents eagerly await the plan to address the nightmare that was the 2022 Braves left field position. AA: “Alright crew. What happens when you throw velcroed balls at a wall that has also been covered with velcro?” Advanced Analytics Guy: “That depends on the exit velocity from the thrower’s arm”. Non-Analytics Guy: “And it depends on if you applied the male part of the velcro to the ball and the female part of the velcro to the wall, because if you threw it at a wall and both the ball and the wall had been covered w ..read more

One of the things I’ve come to appreciate in my 55 years here on Braves Journal is the diversity of modalities that one’s baseball obsession can take.  While this is obvious to some extent from April to October, it is far more obvious in the offseason.  A few of you drop out altogether, content to emerge from hibernation and start anew, while a few others appear to care more about the Hot Stove League than the American or National Leagues.  The only thing I know is that whatever form your baseball psychosis takes, it is not a sign of mental health. And that’s OK!  Mental h ..read more

When looking at the Braves 2023 Outfield, you’d be channelling your inner Chief if you were anything but elated with RF and CF. With a fully healthy Ronald Acuna Jr. and last year’s ROY Michael Harris II patrolling 2/3 of the OF for years to come, we have a tandem that could go down in Braves history as the one of the best OF duos in Braves history. Then…those same fans turn left and collectively sigh. In today’s piece, we will look at the expectations for each outfield position and show where the team ranks compared to the rest of the MLB. Braves Fangraphs Rankings: Right Field, 4th If ya ca ..read more

If healthy, the Braves have 4 stud starting pitchers solidified in their rotation. My way too early guess for how those 4 will align to start the season is Max Fried, Spencer Strider, Charlie Morton then Kyle Wright. There’s no real story here with the above 4. If healthy, they’ll be in the rotation right away. However, the 5th starter is anyone’s guess at the moment. Let’s take a look at some early numbers and stories coming out of Braves Spring Training 5th Starter Battle Update. Ian Anderson Develops a Pitch But Flops in Spring Debut From an inside source way back in November, I was given ..read more