Official Spring Training Thread

[Carp]

Bowman wrote today that Matzek sat 88-89 in his spring debut the other day. Gross.

Spring debut. Can't read too much into it. They will bring him along slow. Though I do think it's doubtful he'll be averaging 94-96 like he was the 3 years prior

[zbhargrove]

Eli White and Forrest Wall are the new Kazmars on the team who are absolute ST legends at the plate. I do wonder about Wall though… he’s still kind of youngish, has some real tools, and was a former first round pick. There was a good Athletic article on him this morning that the Braves have been tweaking his swing and approach.

He’s done nothing but hit since he’s been a Brave… even in his short MLB stint

[Hulavol]

Eli White is the MAN.

[bravesfanMatt]

I think wall and white did this last year and then evaporated in AAA. But I would take them over some of the other bench guys we have. Wish one could play short because I think Arica is going to crash hard this year.

[Slippyjms]

Spring debut. Can't read too much into it. They will bring him along slow. Though I do think it's doubtful he'll be averaging 94-96 like he was the 3 years prior

They have been saying he may start the year on the IL

[Slippyjms]

Any reviews on how Ozuna has looked at 1B

[Tapate50]

They have been saying he may start the year on the IL

I think that was the assumption all along.

I wouldn't mind just holding him out til July. We should have the arms to withstand it.

[zbhargrove]

I think wall and white did this last year and then evaporated in AAA. But I would take them over some of the other bench guys we have. Wish one could play short because I think Arica is going to crash hard this year.

Wall never evaporated and also tore it up in the MLB for a brief stint

[mfree80]

I think wall and white did this last year and then evaporated in AAA. But I would take them over some of the other bench guys we have. Wish one could play short because I think Arica is going to crash hard this year.

Might be a reason to keep Fletcher around in AAA

[Enscheff]

It’s only a week into ST, but if Harris takes another step forward he may be the leadoff hitter this teams needs to finally push Acuna to the 2 hole and Albies to the middle of the order.

[CJ9]

Isn’t Matzek still building up arm strength? He just had TJS like 9 months ago.

He had the surgery in October 2022.

[zbhargrove]

Come on Michael. Save some for the regular season. Dark horse MVP money Mike??

[zbhargrove]

Kerr may be a big arm but he’s struggled so far pretty bad this Spring

[cajunrevenge]

Culberson with a scoreless inning. I am rooting so hard for him. What a story that would be if he could actually be a decent reliever for even 1 year.

[bravesfanMatt]

Might be a reason to keep Fletcher around in AAA

Just let Nacho take his walks in the 2 hole.

[CJ9]

From the best I can tell, the guys on the 40-man who haven’t thrown in a game yet are Morton, Ynoa, Winans and Iglesias. I’ll throw Waldrep in that group as well since he was invited to spring but not on the 40 man. Just throwing that group out there to monitor in case there are some unannounced injuries.

Seems strange that Morton hasn’t thrown yet. Ynoa I’m sure is just management from the surgery and he’ll start throwing at some point - Bowman mentioned today he will likely be in the Gwinnett rotation. Iglesias I’m sure is just a veteran who doesn’t need a long ramp up time.

Waldrep is interesting. I was hoping we’d get a good look this spring, and that can still happen. Probably just taking it easy on him after he threw 131 innings across college and the minors last year.

[zbhargrove]

Ehh Morton is 40…probably just not wanting to exhaust him during a process he’s done for a couple decades

[zbhargrove]

I am surprised we haven’t seen Waldrep tho

[Hulavol]

Culberson with a scoreless inning. I am rooting so hard for him. What a story that would be if he could actually be a decent reliever for even 1 year.

For even one shutout inning…. in late October ….

[drewdat]

Bowman wrote today that Matzek sat 88-89 in his spring debut the other day. Gross.

He came back later and said 91-95 MPH for Matzek