Updated Roster news/thoughts

I think Cory Gearrin has a good shot at one of the three spots. He has pitched well in his two outings and as noted is out of options. I also think both Garcia and Wood will make the team, one as the 5th starter, the other in the pen, so that would leave only one spot in the pen left.

Kimbrel
Carpenter
Walden
Avilan
Gearrin
Garcia/Wood
?

The last spot will go to a lefty if one is deserving. If noone steps up, then they might put Wood in the pen as the second lefty and Garcia as the 5th starter.
 
Thomas making the majors would be a great story. NDFA signed out of the Indy Leagues at age 25 or so. Good karma with those kinds of players too.
 
I know everyone is going to hate Wood not being in the rotation but its going to make for a fantastic pen. Wood actually had a lower FIP than Kimbrel in his 20 innings as a reliever. Kimbrel/Walden/Wood/Avilan/Carpenter/anyone else is a redonkulously deep pen. Hopefully it is not ruined by injury like last year losing EOF and Venters early in the season and Walden later in the season.
 
cajunrevenge said:
I know everyone is going to hate Wood not being in the rotation but its going to make for a fantastic pen. Wood actually had a lower FIP than Kimbrel in his 20 innings as a reliever. Kimbrel/Walden/Wood/Avilan/Carpenter/anyone else is a redonkulously deep pen. Hopefully it is not ruined by injury like last year losing EOF and Venters early in the season and Walden later in the season.
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I do hate it for the simple reason he helps the team more if he throws 170 innings than if he throws 60.
 
Projected pen after seven spring training games: Kimbrel, Walden, Carpenter, Avilan, Gearrin, Garcia, Thomas.

The first four spots have been spoken for all along barring injury. Gearrin, Garcia and Thomas have helped their cases quite a bit so far this spring. As importantly, their competition has stumbled so far, with some shaky outings from Obispo, Severino, Buchter and Varvaro.

Vasquez looked like he would be a contender for a pen spot, but so far has not pitched due to injury. He is scheduled to throw batting practice tomorrow.
 
Juan Jaime has had a pretty good spring. A couple more good outings and he'll be contending for a bullpen spot.
 
Schlosser is another long shot who might be pitching his way into contention. Thomas, Jaime and Schlosser all came in as long shots but their chances are improving fast thanks to their performances and the failures so far of some of their competitors who started out higher on the depth charts.
 
I made a bit of a joke in the spring training game thread, but it's really too bad that Philip Gosselin has't been hitter he was in college to this point. He can't play SS, but he'd be a good 2B/OF 25th guy if he could hit with any consistency.

He's an example of why I take pretty much every player with a grain of salt. Gosselin was highly-hailed as a hitter coming out of college, but it yet to translate in pro ball. Of course, it took Mike Mordecai a few years to get it going and he stuck around for a decade on big league benches. Maybe Gosselin can follow that path. But don't get me wrong. I'm not clamoring for Gosselin.
 
50PoundHead said:
I made a bit of a joke in the spring training game thread, but it's really too bad that Philip Gosselin has't been hitter he was in college to this point. He can't play SS, but he'd be a good 2B/OF 25th guy if he could hit with any consistency.

He's an example of why I take pretty much every player with a grain of salt. Gosselin was highly-hailed as a hitter coming out of college, but it yet to translate in pro ball. Of course, it took Mike Mordecai a few years to get it going and he stuck around for a decade on big league benches. Maybe Gosselin can follow that path. But don't get me wrong. I'm not clamoring for Gosselin.
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He looks like a gamer to me. A guy who because of his work ethic keeps improving at an age when others plateau.
 
Hard not to be intrigued by Juan Jaime, considering his record as a minor league strikeout artist. Some horrific control problems, of course, but the Braves have some recent experience honing the walk tendencies of hard-throwers (Kimbrel put up some truly ghastly walk rates in the minors). Probably not a guy we should get too excited about prematurely, but I'll definitely keep an eye on him.
 
MadduxFanII said:
Hard not to be intrigued by Juan Jaime, considering his record as a minor league strikeout artist. Some horrific control problems, of course, but the Braves have some recent experience honing the walk tendencies of hard-throwers (Kimbrel put up some truly ghastly walk rates in the minors). Probably not a guy we should get too excited about prematurely, but I'll definitely keep an eye on him.
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ANd his names sounds like a porn star.
 
Atlanta Braves

There's been a few noteworthy developments in the Braves bullpen since we covered it back on January 15. Craig Kimbrel (RHP, ATL), Jordan Walden (RHP, ATL), Luis Avilan (LHP, ATL) and David Carpenter (RHP, ATL) remain locked into four bullpen spots, though the rest of the composition is to be determined.

Freddy Garcia (RHP, ATL) seems assured of a spot on the Opening Day roster. There remains a very slight chance that he’ll open the season as the fifth starter in an effort to limit the workload of Alex Wood (LHP, ATL), but it is more likely that he will serve as long reliever.

Anthony Varvaro (RHP, ATL) may have entered spring training with the edge for one of the final two spots. On the surface, Varvaro appeared to have a strong 2013 campaign when you consider his 2.82 ERA, but a 5.3 Dom, 4% SwK% and 37 BPV (career worsts) tell us there is reason for concern.

Cory Gearrin (RHP, ATL) battled shoulder tendinitis last season and suddenly struggled with his control in June and July (8 BB in 6 IP) after posting a 2.3 Ctl in 20 IP in 2012 and 2.9 Ctl over his first 25 IP of 2013. He also saw his average fastball velocity decrease by 2.5 mph to 88 mph last season. If healthy, he could earn one of the final bullpen jobs.

Both Varvaro and Gearrin are out of minor league options.

Gus Schlosser (RHP, ATL), who posted a 2.39 ERA, 6.7 Dom, 2.9 Ctl and 55% GB% in 135.1 IP with Double-A Mississippi last year could be a sleeper candidate for a bullpen job. The 25-year-old side-armer dominated right-handed batters (.199/.256/.272 in 312 PA), but had some trouble against left-handers (.281/.361/.346 in 244 PA) last year. He could potentially fit into a middle relief role as a specialist.

Jonny Venters (LHP, ATL) was expected to throw off a mound with limited effort on March 5. He is still aiming for a late May or early June return from his second Tommy John surgery.
 
Krgrecw said:
Freddy Garcia (RHP, ATL) seems assured of a spot on the Opening Day roster. There remains a very slight chance that he’ll open the season as the fifth starter in an effort to limit the workload of Alex Wood (LHP, ATL), but it is more likely that he will serve as long reliever.
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Encouraging to read.
 
The competition for the last bench spot has gotten murky. We know Laird, Doumit, Pena and Schafer will have four of the five spots. Coming into spring training, I thought the fifth spot would go to Pastornicky or Terdoslavich. However, Pastorinicky has yet to play as he recovers from knee surgery and Terdoslavich has not hit well so far.

That has opened things up for others. La Stella has been very impressive with the bat. Constanza has also hit well. Cunningham is another possibility.

If La Stella or Constanza makes it as the fifth bench player, it would impart a bit of a tilt to our bench in terms of which side of the plate our pinch hitters hit from. It would add a second lefty bat after Schafer. Pena is nominally a switch hitter but hits much better from the left side. Doumit's splits are not as pronounced, but he also has hit better from the left side over the course of his career.

With La Stella there is also the issue of whether it is better for him and the team to have him on the major league bench or get some more seasoning for another month or two in AAA.

There is also the option of picking up a player from outside the organization. My guess is the preference will be for a right-handed bat or a switch hitter who hits well from the right side.
 
As far as the pen goes, we still have a situation in which there are four locks: Kimbrel, Walden, Carpenter and Avilan. They have all pitched well so far in spring training.

While not a lock, I think Garcia has a pretty strong claim on one of the remaining three spots.

That leaves two spots. I think the team will want to give one of those spots to a lefty and one to a righty.

The main contenders for the lefty spot right now are Buchter and Thomas. I think it is pretty much a tossup between those two at the moment. Both pitched well against the Gnats today.

For the righty spot, we have Gearrin and Varvaro as the main contenders. Hale is also in the mix. In addition, there are a couple others who were outside shots coming in who have improved their chances: Schlosser and Jaime. Both pitched in AA last year, and probably need some additional seasoning in AAA. But if none of Gearrin, Varvaro and Hale nails it down, there could be an opening for one of them. Vasquez would have been in the mix, but has not pitched yet due to injury. Obispo is now a long-shot after some poor performances.

As with the last bench spot, the team also has the option of picking someone up from outside the organization to fill out the pen.
 
My guess for the pen:

Kimbrel
Carpenter
Walden
Avilan
Gearrin
Thomas (Ian has been excellent, 4.1 innings, 7 K's to only 2 BB's, only hitting .143 off him, had a very good year in Mississippi last year)
Garcia
 
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