Kyle Wright starts his bid for a rotation spot when the Braves play against the Rays on Sunday afternoon in both teams’ Grapefruit League season opener at Charlotte Sports Park.
Wright is scheduled to start and pitch two innings for the Braves, who will also have Sean Newcomb, Grant Dayton, Carl Edwards Jr., Chad Sobotka and Patrick Weigel available to give a relief appearance.
Under the 2021 Spring Training protocols, spring games through March 13 are scheduled as seven-inning games, but can be shortened to five innings or extended to nine innings upon mutual agreement by both managers. Games that take place after March 14 are scheduled as nine-inning games, but can be shortened to seven-inning games. Braves manager Brian Snitker said he expects all of his team’s games to last seven innings in this two-week period.
With a road game also scheduled against the Red Sox on Monday, Snitker said he expects to play only half of his expected regulars in the Grapefruit League opener.
“I think we’ll just distribute it,” Snitker said. “We have a lot of guys we want to see.”
The Braves’ rotation plans will hinge on what is determined regarding Mike Soroka in the coming weeks. While the team has not ruled out the possibility that Soroka could be ready at the start of the regular season, it is expected that he will have extra time to recover from a torn right Achilles tendon.
If Soroka does start the season on the injured list, Wright and Bryse Wilson will be the best candidates for the vacant rotation spot.
Wright has been on Atlanta’s opening day for the past two seasons. But the 25-year-old right-handed has posted an ERA of 6.59, while he has only posted 12 career fundamentals so far. He showed some promise when he ended last years regular season with three strong starts, then threw six scoreless innings against the Marlins in Game 3 of the National League Division Series.
Freeman’s arrival
Freddie Freeman took care of his wife Chelsea this week, who gave birth to the couple’s third son last weekend. The reigning NL MVP is expected to arrive in Florida on Friday evening and complete his intake test on Saturday. This puts him in line to start training with his Braves teammates on Monday.
Even if Freeman missed the entire first week of the Grapefruit League season, he would still have three weeks to prepare for Opening Day.
“It doesn’t matter at all,” said Snitker. “As you remember, it usually gets warm for the first 10 days [the Grapefruit League season] and then gets bored for 10 days and then moves on. I’m not worried about that at all. “
Other Spring Training Protocols
For Spring Training games through March 13, defensive managers have the option to end an inning before the third out, as long as at least 20 pitches have been added in the half inning and no at bat is started. This will end the common practice of using potentially unprepared Minor League pitchers to make an abrupt entry after a pitcher exceeds his target number of pitches within an inning.
The minimum three-batter rule is in effect for any game played on March 14 or later.
Managers also have the option to reenter pitchers throughout Spring Training. This allows managers to use a reliever in a given situation to end an inning and then possibly bring their starter back to start the next inning.