They are working with the rest of the Braves to prepare for a baseball season that begins in five weeks, but Venezuelans on the team are also worried about family and friends in their troubled homeland.
At least eight deaths and more than 100 injuries have been linked to civil unrest and political violence in the past two weeks in Venezuela, where thousands of students and others are protesting in city streets against the government of President Nicolas Maduro.
“It’s really bad there right now,” said Venezula relief pitcher Luis Avilan, who has stayed in contact with his mother, brother and girlfriend in his hometown of Barquisimoto, and his father who works in Caracas, the capital city, where hundreds of thousands protested in the streets during the weekend.
“Every day we talk. My friends go to the streets to protest the government,” Avilan said. “I tell them to try to stay safe, don’t do anything crazy, don’t try to do too much.”
Avilan and 11 other members of the Braves organization showed support for the protesters by posing for a photo Sunday while holding hand-made signs that featured the Venezuela flag and messages of support for the protesters.
“That’s the least we can do for all the students who are fighting every day against the government,” said Braves bullpen coach Eddie Perez, a Venezuelan. “They’re shooting them, they’re killing them. They (protesters) are fighting for our freedom, and we’re here doing our jobs thinking about them.”
Perez said his wife and children participated with hundreds of Venezuelans and others in a rally Saturday in Atlanta to show solidarity with the protesters. Perez’s mother and brothers live in Maracaibo in northwestern Venezuela.
Several others Braves who posed for the photo were Venezuelan, including veteran pitcher Freddy Garcia, Triple-A first baseman Ernesto Mejia, and Class-A Lynchburg manager Luis Salazar. Others were Latin American players including Colombian pitcher Julio Teheran and Panamanian catching prospect Christian Bethancourt.
The only non-Latino was Evan Gattis, who played winter ball in Venezuela after the 2012 season, and developed an affinity for the country and its people. He’s read and talked to Venezuelans about the country’s combustible political history, including Maduro’s power predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez, a leftist icon.
“Chavez, basically, from my understanding, became a dictator and kind of controlled all the money,” Gattis said.
“And you couldn’t say anything against the government. I just know it’s bad. And then he died, and someone took over who’s even worse, so it’s pretty much the same thing.
“People can’t say anything about it, and I don’t think they have (independent) news (organizations) like we do. It’s bad. It’s a good country — good people, bad government, man.”
Three days till game: Ready or not, the Braves open the Grapefruit League schedule Wednesday with a 1:05 p.m. home game against the Tigers at Champion Stadium.
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said his guys are antsy to tee it up despite only five days of official full-squad workouts so far, including one shortened by rain Saturday. Braves pitchers and catchers began workouts Feb. 14, and many of the team’s other position players were in camp working out informally at least a week before then.
“We’re ready to play games,” Gonzalez said said. “These guys are highly competitive athletes. It’s like those thoroughbreds – you’ve got to let them run every once in a while…. I’ve been here since the 7th or 8th (of February) and some of them were already here. So they’re looking for a different color uniform to break the monotony.”
Gonzalez said he would announce pitching plans for the first several spring-training games on Monday.
The Braves play the Tigers again on Thursday at Lakeland, then are back in Lake Buena Vista for a Friday night (6:05) game against the Astros.
Etc.
Braves right-hander Luis Vasquez passed his physical and was cleared to resume throwing, which should give him enough time to compete for a spot in the opening-day bullpen.
The hard-throwing side-armer strained a lat muscle in his right side in the Dominican winter league playoffs last month. Vasquez was one of the most dominant relievers in winter ball, where the Braves signed him as a minor league free agent….
The first three Braves spring-training games Wednesday through Friday are radio-only games on AM stations 1230 and 1340. The first Braves Radio Network game is Saturday vs. the Nationals, to be broadcast in Atlanta on 680 and 93.7.
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