It looks like the Braves have decided on their opening-day roster, with the 26th and final spot going to outfielder and base-stealing threat Forrest Wall.
The club announced that it had reassigned six position players to minor-league camp Monday afternoon shortly after its spring-training game against the Rays to reduce the roster to 28 players. Among them were infielders David Fletcher and Luke Williams, seen as the principal competitors with Wall for the last spot. The other four were catchers Drake Baldwin and Chadwick Tromp, infielder Andrew Velasquez and outfielder Eli White.
Two more players on the 28-man roster will be moved to the injured list soon to get to 26 – pitchers Penn Murfee and Angel Perdomo, who are recovering from Tommy John surgery. It is conceivable that the club could still reshape its roster by signing a released player.
Wall has hit .303 this spring and also offers the club a speed element, having stolen 104 bases in 124 attempts at the Triple-A level in the past two seasons. Wall is an underdog who reached the major leagues in July after he was drafted in 2014 and played more than 800 minor-league games before the call-up by the Braves. Given that he is unlikely to get much playing time as a fifth outfielder, it won’t be a surprise if he is used primarily late-inning base-stealing specialist.
“I just want to be a piece that the team can plug me in and know that they can trust me to fill the role,” Wall told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Sunday. “I think, for me, it’s just, I hope I get the opportunity, and that’s it. If I can get the opportunity, it gives me a chance to go show what I can do.”
While the roster is a fluid list, 11 of the projected 26 were not on the opening-day roster a year ago. The eight-pitcher bullpen in particular has been vastly reshaped. Only Joe Jiménez, Dylan Lee and A.J. Minter were with the team for the start of last season.
The Braves open the season March 28 at Philadelphia.
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