Braves pitchers and catchers had their first workout Thursday, marking the unofficial beginning of baseball season.
Manager Brian Snitker, who’s been in Florida since the day after the Super Bowl, spoke with reporters for the first time this season Thursday morning following the workout.
“It was a great workout,” Snitker said. “Guys seem to be at ease and doing their thing as far as all the masks and things like that. We had to change to reporting times they’re not used to at spring training. But everybody did great and did what we asked them. It was pretty good.”
Snitker covered a couple of important aspects of the 2021 Braves:
• Snitker is happy with the team’s rotation depth. The Braves, who were decimated by starting-pitcher injuries during the shortened 2020 season, added veterans Drew Smyly and Charlie Morton to fill out their rotation. They’re joining Max Fried, Ian Anderson and Mike Soroka to form a rotation possessing major upside. The Braves also have Kyle Wright and Bryse Wilson headlining their depth.
“I feel real good about the rotation,” Snitker said. “We’re going to need all these guys to get through the year. We have really good depth. I think it’s quality depth, too, when you look at the young guys who made strides last year and the addition of Charlie and Drew. It just adds to that depth. And the continued growth of a lot of our young guys. We’re going to need all of them.”
As for when Soroka, who tore his Achilles last season, will be ready, Snitker couldn’t say. It’s possible the right-hander returns by opening day, but the Braves may opt to play it safely and start the season with him on the injured list.
• The designated hitter allowed the Braves to tweak their lineup last season, moving MVP Freddie Freeman into the two-spot and shifting Marcell Ozuna into Freeman’s traditional third place in the order.
Now that it appears the National League will be operating under traditional rules – meaning pitchers will hit again – Snitker will consider altering the lineup. He acknowledged that it makes sense to shift Freeman back into his old spot, but the team will discuss the idea further later.
“That’s something we’ll decide on and talk about,” Snitker said. “I haven’t talked to (Freeman) yet. But it did work. It was the reason we moved Josh (Donaldson) around two years ago, because we saw in that lineup, it’s a totally different animal when the pitchers are hitting. It’s not out of the question. We’ll talk about it and see.
“It’s real that when the pitchers hit, that (second) spot isn’t as productive. It doesn’t have the opportunities that hitting third does.”
