After finishing a three-game series against the Pirates on Sunday, the Braves are off Monday. They play games at the Marlins on Tuesday and Wednesday before another day off preceding the first official game at SunTrust Park.
The haphazard schedule makes it difficult for manager Brian Snitker to keep his starting rotation on regular rest. He said he’s still not sure how he will shuffle the rotation around the off days.
“There are two or three different ways we can go just to try to keep the bulk of (pitchers) semi-regular instead of going seven and eight days in between (starts),” Snitker said. “It’s weird. It’s hard. I don’t think there is any right or wrong answer. Try to keep as many of them as close to normal as we can is the biggest thing.”
Ace Julio Teheran is scheduled to start against the Pirates on Sunday. Following him in the rotation are Bartolo Colon, Jaime Garcia, Mike Foltynewicz and R.A. Dickey, who started against the Pirates on Saturday.
Colon and Garcia are scheduled to start Tuesday and Wednesday with one extra day of rest. Snitker then would have to decide which pitcher takes the mound Friday for the home opener.
Snitker said it’s possible that Foltynewicz, the fifth starter, could skip his next turn and pitch out of the bullpen in the interim.
“If we do something like that it would almost be like adding a reliever,” Snitker said. “Not an ideal situation to have these off days.”
