KISSIMMEE, Fla. – When the Braves brought a majors-leading 70 players including 30 non-roster invitees to camp, some wondered whether there would be enough innings and at-bats to go around.
Eight games into the Braves’ spring-training schedule, before Wednesday, the only projected opening-day lineup regulars with more than a dozen official at-bats were Hector Olivera and shortstop newcomer Erick Aybar. Most of the team leaders in ABs and plate appearances were prospects and veteran non-roster invitees.
As for pitchers, the only Brave with more than three innings before Wednesday was prospect Aaron Blair, who had four innings in two starts.
No need to worry, Braves fans. We’ll let one Braves veteran, who’s played for eight teams in a 10-year career, put things in perspective both for you and for some younger players.
“Everyone goes into panic,” utility man Kelly Johnson said Tuesday, “because you have these guys where, you face a guy for the first time that throws 97-98 (miles per hour), and they’re like, ‘I need at-bats,’ or ‘I need to hit.’ But we’ve played, like, five games. It feels like 20 games, but we’ve played, like, five, and we still have 3 ½ weeks left.
“The way things are going to work out, our guys who know they’re going to go down (to the minor leagues) to start the year, they’ll go down and at-bats open up (for those remaining in big-league camp). I would think everyone’s going to be right where they need to be in terms of at-bats. Because really, I think it’s mental – don’t panic about it and realize how much time we have here, take it for what it is.”
Indeed, the relatively low innings for projected Braves starters in the first part of the spring schedule was by design: manager Fredi Gonzalez wanted to give a few prospects early starts before settling into a projected five-man rotation late in the second week of the 35-game Grapefruit League schedule.
As for the hitters, most coaches and veteran players will tell you spring training is too long and most hitters are ready to go after 25-35 plate appearances, on top of all the batting practice and early work they do in the batting cages.
Last spring, Nick Markakis didn’t play a game until the last 10 days of camp because of offseason neck surgery that curtailed his activities. He batted .296 with a .370 on-base percentage in 2015 while leading the Braves in plate appearances (686) and doubles (38) and ranking fourth in the National League in hits (181).
One other thing: The Braves’ early spring schedule included six road games in the first 10 dates, with four games in the first seven that required bus rides of two hours or more each way. Gonzalez, like other managers, prefers to give established veterans a break with the road schedule in spring training, letting them avoid some long bus rides and play more home games.
Case in point: Braves catcher A.J. Pierzynksi has only made one road trip in two spring trainings with the team, and that was to face the Astros last year in Kissimmee, about 20 minutes from the Braves’ complex.
