Braves starting pitcher Luiz Gohara has been slowed by groin tightness in the first week of spring training.
The rookie left-hander is competing for one of two openings in the starting rotation and had been widely considered the favorite for one of those spots entering spring training, after totaling 25 strikeouts with four walks in 25 1/3 innings over the last four of his five starts in September.
The 6-foot-3, 250-plus pound Brazilian left-hander is a consensus top 100 prospect in baseball and was ranked as high as 23rd by Baseball America.
“There’s a lot to like. That’s easy to see,” pitching coach Chuck Hernandez said Friday morning. “But right now he’s a little behind with a tight groin. So we have to catch him up.”
Gohara’s top competition for the final rotation spots is expected to come from Sean Newcomb, who made 19 starts as a rookie in 2017 and will make his spring debut Saturday with a start against the Astros, and rookie lefty Max Fried.
The Braves haven’t announced who’ll start Monday and Tuesday in the first home games of the spring, but neither Fried nor any of the three penciled in for spots in the rotation – incumbents Julio Teheran and Mike Foltynewicz, veteran newcomer Brandon McCarthy – were scheduled to make the trips for any of the first three spring games Friday in Port St. Lucie (Mets) or Saturday and Sunday in West Palm Beach against the Astros and Nationals.
