Official Spring Training Thread

We haven't had this kind of starting pitching depth in a while. Hope they stay healthy. Maybe they'll try to be as good as the offense was last year.
 
What hasn't been talked about much is Lopez.....dude is shoving this spring.

3IP today. 0H 1BB 4K

So far this spring he has 8 IP, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. Has a WHIP of 0.63


I dont think we should read too much into this. He has been as much a 2 pitch pitcher as Strider since going to the pen. He has a CB and CH but throws them 10% or less of the time when coming out of the pen. He could be having success because now because he hasnt had to go longer than 3 innings which is basically one time through the batting order. From what I have seen he has been a slow starter but almost lights out in the second half so any good start to the year should be a good sign.
 
I am wondering if they are thinking Elder as the #5 and Lopez as BP backup. Or even piggy backing those two as 3-4 inning each. That is hard to do in the reg season though.

Could be just wanting to work on something and minor league camp is a better spot to do it.
 
David O'Brien
@DOBrienATL
Ken Giles is on a minor league contract, so this allows #Braves to send him down to get more innings, multi-inning stints, back-to-back days, etc. Missed a lot of time past couple years, so this lets him build up properly. I’d guess he’ll be back with Atlanta early in the season.
 
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It's hard to tell at what point of the load sequence he's in for all these pics, but lowering the hands is a very Olson/Acuna/Harris thing to do. It helps because it get the bat on the proper swing plane more quickly.

Having said that, Kelenic sitting at .048/.167/.048 isn't ideal, but that .067 BABIP is insanely low. It's a measly 24 PAs, but the BB and K rates look good.

Kelenic is still the most interesting piece of the 2024 roster.
 
Fried finally starting again today. Its been like 11-12 days since his last start. I dont know what thats about, hopefully just trying to be cautious ramping him up considering he got hurt his first start last year.
 
David O'Brien
@DOBrienATL
Ken Giles is on a minor league contract, so this allows #Braves to send him down to get more innings, multi-inning stints, back-to-back days, etc. Missed a lot of time past couple years, so this lets him build up properly. I’d guess he’ll be back with Atlanta early in the season.

That leaves Elder AJSS Waldrep and Lee for the last pitching spot. AJSS for the first year Strider role?
 
That leaves Elder AJSS Waldrep and Lee for the last pitching spot. AJSS for the first year Strider role?

I'd think they'd want to keep giving Smith-Shawver as many innings as possible to refine and build up, given the precious few innings he's pitched professionally still (and even overall).

I think Lee's probably the best bet/choice, since he can work multiple innings but is also accustomed to pitching in conventional relief.
 
I'd think they'd want to keep giving Smith-Shawver as many innings as possible to refine and build up, given the precious few innings he's pitched professionally still (and even overall).

I think Lee's probably the best bet/choice, since he can work multiple innings but is also accustomed to pitching in conventional relief.

That would be 4 LHRP assuming Matzek doesn't start the season on the IL. And of course if Matzek does start on the IL then we'd need a second pitcher from the group.
 
Does anyone think Tromp makes the team? If the last person on the bench isn't gonna play anyway we may as well leverage them to allow our better players to get more ABs. If we signed Duvall we'd have

Murphy/TDA
Duvall
Guillorme
Tromp
 
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