There are least six players on the Triple-A Gwinnett Braves roster who could soon get that early-morning phone call to inform them of their promotion to the big-league club. One injury, one slump or one trade could change their lives and find them changing their clothes at SunTrust Park rather than Coolray Field.
Now, the trick is to avoid losing focus. Their concentration must remain on their current minor-league assignment. And that isn’t always easy.
“You don’t know when you’re going to get that phone call,” second baseman Ozzie Albies said. “I just have to do what I have to do on the field and whenever that time comes, I need to be ready.”
Albies and third baseman Rio Ruiz are two position players with the best odds to move up. MLB.com ranks Albies as the organization’s No. 1 prospect and Ruiz as No. 22.
Four pitchers are on the short list to be called up: Matt Wisler, Aaron Blair, No. 5-ranked Sean Newcomb and No. 18 Lucas Sims.
All will open the season with Gwinnett, which opens the season Thursday against Durham.
“You know you’re close. You know your opportunity is coming if you perform well,” Gwinnett manager Damon Berryhill said. “It’s one of those situations as a player that you’ve got to be excited about. These guys are close to getting their opportunity to play in the big leagues if they stay hungry and go about their business the right way.”
Albies’s situation might have been different had it not been for a season-ending right elbow fracture sustained in the International League playoffs last year. The injury required surgery and Albies didn’t get his first game action in spring training until March 9. He played in 12 games and hit .353 in the Grapefruit League.
“Spring was huge for me,” Albies said. “I feel comfortable. This is where I need to be, where I can be comfortable and play the game right.”
Ruiz said he was taking the same stay-in-the-moment approach. He opened the organization’s eyes with a solid spring, batting .268, but striking out 18 times in 56 at-bats.
“I had a more aggressive mindset, trying to make the team,” Ruiz said. “I felt I put myself in a good position to make the team and it didn’t quite work out.”
Ruiz spent all of last season with Gwinnett, hit .271 with 24 doubles, 10 homers and 62 RBIs and was named the team’s player of the year.
“Ultimately the goal is to be (in Atlanta), but you can’t look too far ahead,” he said. “You’ve got to live in the present and do the work every single day. You’re not doing it for the future, you’re doing it for the now, for today, and everything else will take care of itself.”
Each of the pitching prospects has a different obstacle to overcome to reach or return to the big leagues.
• Wisler suffered from poor location in the spring, where he pitched 17 innings and posted a 5.19 ERA. Over the past two seasons, he was 15-21 with a 4.88 in several stints with the Braves.
• Blair has lacked consistency. He was 2-7 with a 7.59 ERA in 15 starts for the Braves in 2016. He had a 6.23 ERA in 8 2/3 innings this spring and could be the first starter recalled.
• Newcomb, a left-hander, has no experience above the Double-A level and needs seasoning. He struck out five in three innings in the spring. Command is a key.
• Sims had trouble making the move up to Triple-A last year. He was 5-5 with a 2.67 ERA in Double-A, but went 2-6 with a 7.56 ERA at Gwinnett.
“You’ve got to continue to work to get there,” Berryhill said. “It’s one of those things where you don’t believe it when people tell you how good you are. You’ve got to go out there and prove it every day when you get the opportunity. You might only get one shot, and you’ve got to be prepared and make the best of your opportunity.”
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