Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: the Wright choice and a mad dash to the coast
The Atlanta Braves have another 2 weeks of Spring games remaining and roster decisions appear to be getting close.
With the recent revelation that Mike Foltynewicz will not begin the season on time, candidates for the Atlanta Braves rotation are becoming much more clear.
No official announcement has yet been made, but the ‘pecking order’ seems to be getting more solid with each new turn in the order.
Freddie Freeman was asked in an MLB Network Radio interview that aired today (this is a link to a portion of that interview) about which pitcher he thought people should be paying attention to this Spring.
Without hesitation, he said “Wright”. Kyle Wright has clearly emerged from the pack and will almost certainly be joining this group to start the year:
- Julio Teheran
- Kevin Gausman
- Sean Newcomb
- Kyle Wright
- <TBD>
The open slot may belong to Max Fried, though Touki Toussaint is also continuing to make his own statements.
The difference is close. Both Fried and Toussaint are throwing ‘middle innings’ – not starting games, as those premium innings are being given to the foursome noted above.
- FRIED: 7.1 innings, 6 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), 3.68 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 2BB/8K
- TOUSSAINT: 10 IP, 8 hits, 7 runs/7ER, 6.30 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 2BB/12K
Touki’s single bad inning earlier soiled his numbers. On Monday, though, he sparkled with only 2 baserunners over 4 innings. He may have some momentum on his side now.
Right now, it feels like a coin flip between the pair, but whether either gets the chance may be more up to Foltynewicz’ barking elbow.
We are nearly 4 weeks away from needing that 5th starter, which gives Folty roughly 10 days before this decision needs to be made.
In any case, both Fried and Toussaint could end up on the team for long relief purposes, a role that tends to be important over the first week+ of the year.
So there’s depth and there’s performance – all of these guys have earned the slot. The rest comes down to timing and opportunity.
Nearly Ready to Go… Quickly
That last Florida game will be a spectacle.
On Saturday afternoon, March 23, the Atlanta Braves are scheduled to play the Mets at Disney… their last game at Champion Stadium after a 22 seasons at the park.
It will be exactly that, in a way: while the Braves started their 1st full season there in 1998, the opener came on March 28, 1997 against the Reds… the last game of that year’s Spring schedule.
Likewise, the opener for Cool Today Park will be the last Florida game of this season… and it could be a fun (meaning “not real fun”) logistical effort.
Once that Saturday game ends, the Braves will pack up all of their equipment and move it about 2½ hours (on a good day) to Southwest Florida and the city of North Port.
Then enough of the truck has to be unloaded and set back up to play a game against the Rays that starts at 4pm (mercifully delayed a bit) on Sunday afternoon.
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None of the facilities have been used before. The only thing that might be familiar will be the dimensions… set up to be virtually identical to SunTrust Park.
It’s a park with a generally smaller seating capacity (6,200 vs. 7,500, though non-fixed seating will boost the new park to around 8,200 maximum) than at Disney, but the cost was enormous.
Want to know why the Braves didn’t raise their payroll? This could be part of the reason.
The original construction estimate was something in the $70 million range. While the number has been escalating all along, a recent report now pegs the cost to be $140 million… easily the highest for any single-team Spring facility ever… and the Braves own the cost overruns.
But on that date, this will be the hottest ticket in town… secondary market prices are running 3 and 4 times face value now. Good luck with that!