Bobby Cox is back in the cleats and sitting in a Braves dugout -- for at least one more night.
The Braves’ Hall of Fame skipper managed the team’s Future Stars roster Tuesday in the spring final exhibition game at SunTrust Park.
Cox oversaw a lineup that included top prospects Ronald Acuna, Austin Riley, Cristian Pache, Alex Jackson and others. Mike Soroka was his starter, with Kolby Allard, Kyle Wright, Touki Toussaint, Joey Wentz and more lined up to follow.
“The Braves, no doubt in my mind, the assessment of our minor league system is right on,” Cox said. “We’re right at the top in baseball. Should be a great year for all of our affiliates, and you’re going to see some of those kids up here before too long.”
As an adviser with the club, Cox has seen the youth sizzle in the minors. He also had an up-close view of their spring trainings.
His key takeaway: They’re each wired the right way with a natural drive to improve. That includes Soroka, who’s constantly showered in praise for his maturity and focus.
“They all have great makeup,” Cox said. “We don’t have a bad kid in the bunch. They’re pretty impressive. … Soroka just turned 20, just saw him at 19 all year in Double-A, which is saying something these days. We don’t push them that fast. He was good enough to be pushed. I think he was pitcher of the year in that league.
“He’s a young kid who throw strikes, quality stuff. He’s got a great change-up working for himself, a good slider. Then in the spring he was throwing 95, so he’s even gaining velocity right now. He won’t be down there long.”
Cox didn’t hesitate when asked how the current crop of Braves arms compares with that of the late-1980s and early ’90s, which produced a pair of Hall of Fame starters and other contributors to a 14-year first-place run.
In fact, he entertained it. Granted, Cox acknowledged while the quantity is greater now than it was then, the quality of years past will be hard to replicate.
“We’ve probably got more of them right now,” Cox said. “Whether or not we’re going to have Hall of Fame guys, I don’t know. But 300-game winners, that’s never going to happen again in my mind, the way the game’s played today with the bullpens. We have more of them now.
“Like I said, I don’t know if they’re all going to be in the Hall of Fame or not, but it’s hard to get better than (Tom) Glavine, (Greg) Maddux and (John) Smoltz and those guys, Steve Avery. But these kids are right in there.”
