Bartolo Colon to start Braves’ Grapefruit League opener

Bartolo Colon loosens before a recent spring-training workout. He’ll start the Braves’ Grapefruit League opener Saturday against Toronto. (Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com)

Credit: Curtis Compton

Credit: Curtis Compton

Bartolo Colon loosens before a recent spring-training workout. He’ll start the Braves’ Grapefruit League opener Saturday against Toronto. (Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com)

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – In his first game for the Braves, “Big Sexy” will be the starting pitcher.

Bartolo Colon will start the team’s Grapefruit League opener Saturday against the Toronto Blue Jays at Champion Stadium, the Braves’ spring-training home park.

Manager Brian Snitker announced the early rotation plans Thursday and said Colon would be followed in order by Julio Teheran, knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, Mike Foltynewicz and Jaime Garcia.

Teheran makes his spring debut in a Saturday home game against the Astros and Dickey gets his first Braves start Monday against the Tigers at Lakeland. Foltynewicz faces the Cardinals on Tuesday at Champion Stadium and Garcia starts against the Yankees in a Wednesday night game at Tampa.

The Braves are set with four spots in their five-man starting rotation: Teheran, Colon, Dickey and Garcia, in no assigned order just yet. Foltynewicz is the clear favorite for the other spot.

If there’s an injury or other unexpected development this spring, next in line for a rotation spot could be Matt Wisler, who is 15-21 with a 4.88 ERA in 47 games (45 starts) in parts of two major league seasons. The Braves have far more starting depth this season including the likes of veteran swingman Josh Collmenter and prospect Aaron Blair, who made 15 starts as a rookie.

“The extra starters will piggyback in,” Snitker said, referring to the practice of having two starters each go a couple or three innings in an early spring game. “And then everything’s tentative to see when those (World Baseball Classic) guys leave and how long they’re gone for. It’s a different type adjustments and we’re trying to get the guys who are going to leave out there, maybe they can get a couple of outings before they go.”

The Braves could lose three of their starting pitchers for a week or more during the WBC in March, with Teheran set to pitch for Colombia and Colon for the Dominican Republic assuming they advance to the second round. Garcia was still weighing whether to pitch for his Mexican homeland or skip it and stay in Braves spring training.

Teheran, center fielder Ender Inciarte (Venezuela) and first baseman Freddie Freeman, who’s playing for Canada as a tribute to his late mother, are expected to leave camp around March 6 for a few days in training camps with their WBC teams before pool play.