Hey folks.
Before we dive in, I wanna pass along a couple links to keep handy.
- Throughout spring training, beat writer Chad Bishop (more on him momentarily) and the rest of the crew will be posting shorter-style updates right here. It’ll be worth your while to check in regularly.
- Then there’s our new Braves Report mailbag — a spot where can submit questions directly to Chad and me. You can always email, too, but this makes it easier to keep track of things … and then get your answers right here in the newsletter.
OK, housekeeping over.
CHECKING IN WITH CHAD
Chad Bishop is the AJC’s new Braves beat writer. He most recently covered Georgia Tech for us. He’s very good.
Like yours truly, he’s also a Gwinnett County native — so you know he’s a solid dude.
At the risk of overdoing it (he wrote a little something for the Win Column earlier this week, too), I pressed Chad on some extremely important matters as he gears up for the new gig.
My questions are in bold. His answers are in between.
1️⃣ You’ve taken a job that requires even more nights, weekends and road trips than before. Please describe your wife’s thoughts.
She left yesterday.
No, no, no, kidding. I am very fortunate that when we began our courtship in 2013, we were both employed by a newspaper, me as a collegiate beat writer and her as a copy editor. The only schedule she has ever known is one where I work nights, weekends and holidays.
(But let’s revisit this in September …)
2️⃣ No cheering in the press box! But who’s the player not named Ronald Acuña Jr. that you’re most excited to watch on a daily basis?
I’m going to go with Ozzie Albies.
When Ozzie is right, he’s a joy to watch play the game with his enthusiasm and athleticism.
3️⃣ As a Brookwood High grad, are you willing to be cordial with Parkview alum Matt Olson?
In the clubhouse during the 2025 season, I introduced myself to Matt and let him know I was a Brookwood alum.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
Thus, no, no I am not.
4️⃣ Will you be traveling to road series?
I plan on being at as many road series as possible. Now, there may come a time at the front end or back end of a three-city trip in which I skip out, but wherever the Braves are is where I plan to be.
5️⃣ What’s your preferred approach to ~journalism~? What can folks expect from your coverage?
First and foremost, I have an unbiased, facts-based approach. My job is to, in the truest sense of the word, report: report what happened, why it happened, what could happen next and who was responsible for what happened.
From there, I love telling a good story, a feature piece that profiles a human or a collection of people. That’s probably becoming somewhat outdated in this TikTok culture, but if there is a way to go in-depth on a topic, I am all about it.
As for the baseball side of things, my hope is to find a groove between the analytics and the human. Why is Player A in a slump? Well, his swing plane is a few degrees off kilter. But also his grandmother who cared for him for much of his life recently and suddenly died.
There should be a balance between the numbers and the human to form the complete picture of the puzzle.
6️⃣ Anything you learned while covering Tech that you think will translate to the new beat?
Possibly, but I may not know until I’ve been embedded with the big-league club for a while. College athletics and professional sports are so different (although that line has certainly been blurred now). I have mostly covered amateur (?) sports since 2004 and am looking forward to diving into the professional sports world.
Two things I do know will translate: forming relationships and building trust. Having strong connections with everyone inside Truist Park is vital to good reporting and exclusive intel.
7️⃣ What’s your favorite road trip meal ever? Gotten any tips on North Port yet?
If covering the Braves is a dream job, then being a travel/food blogger would be a close second. There are few things I enjoy more than visiting a new city, meeting the fine people who live there and dining at the establishments that give the location its character.
I don’t know if I could pick a favorite from traveling to El Paso to Dublin to Nassau and so many points in between, but Franklin BBQ in Austin, Texas, is toward the top of the list. And being a big BBQ guy (and taco guy, and Asian, and Indian) it’s hard to beat any Q in the state of Texas (you’ll know where to find me when the Bravos hit up Houston and Arlington).
As for North Port, I have never ever been to spring training, so thankfully my AJC colleagues also making the trip will be able to point me in the right direction. As long as I find some fresh seafood, I’ll be good.
8️⃣ Give me a storyline you think will define the Braves’ season this year.
Health. As simple as that.
We’re not talking about a strained oblique here and a sore hamstring there, we’re talking can Braves starting pitchers go for more than three months at a time without being shelved? Can the lineup stay virtually intact from April-September? We already know that Ha-Seong Kim and Sean Murphy won’t be ready to go at the outset, which means the Braves are already behind the eight ball in this regard.
To me, the 2026 Braves are a very legitimate team on paper, but the margin for error is slim, and any serious injury to any of the team’s top players will be difficult to overcome — and will likely result in a repeat of the 2025 season.
Follow our boy at @MrChadBishop. And don’t forget about the mailbag.
ODDS, ENDS AND OTHER INTERESTING STUFF
⛄ Unfortunate news: Saturday’s Braves Fest, at which new Hall of Famer Andruw Jones was scheduled to appear, has been canceled. Thanks, “forecast winter storm activity across the Southeast.”
- At least you can still buy tickets for June’s Braves Country (Music) Festival?
📺 With spring training 10 days away, we’re really pushing the whole “who’s gonna broadcast Braves games?” thing down to the wire. Ken Sugiura explores one potential over-the-air option.
🇻🇪 Ronald Acuña Jr. will play for Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. Best we can tell, no other Braves have publicly committed to the WBC, which starts March 5.
🤔 The Braves are reportedly still in discussions to acquire a veteran starting pitcher like Lucas Giolito or Chris Bassitt. Columnist Michael Cunningham would like that.
📝 Former Atlanta star Craig Kimbrel signed a minor league deal with the rival Mets.
📉 ESPN recently ranked the Braves farm system MLB’s 26th best. Keith Law of the Athletic put ‘em at No. 27 — and added that “scouts who saw their High-A club said it was one of the worst teams they saw all year.”
- The AJC’s Gabe Burns balanced things out with three Braves prospects who could make a splash this summer.
🤨 Former Braves GM John Coppolella (he of the now-lifted lifetime ban for violating international signing rules) is back on the scene — writing for Baseball America. His introductory piece is genuinely interesting.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Third baseman Austin Riley reads to kids at last year’s edition of Braves Fest. True Renaissance man.
Thanks for reading Braves Report. Tell a friend — and maybe give the AJC’s Win Column newsletter a shot, too.
Until next time.
About the Author
Tyler Estep hosts the AJC Win Column, Atlanta's new weekly destination for all things sports. He also shepherds the Sports Daily and Braves Report newsletters to your inbox.
