Spring Training is right around the corner! Braves pitchers & catchers begin reporting to camp on Monday, February 13, right before the full squad checks in on Thursday, February 16. Their first game is on the road facing off against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday, February 25. With those dates in mind, you can see just how closely baseball is in returning to our daily lives. You also probably have plenty of questions regarding the Braves, & I’m here to provide answers. Let’s discuss how our 2022 NL East Champs are looking as the 2023 MLB season approaches.
Who starts in LF?
Eddie Rosario, Marcell Ozuna, Jordan Luplow, Eli White, & Sam Hilliard are all early candidates to be the Opening Day left fielder for the Braves once the season officially begins. These guys all have their strengths & weaknesses, but the current favorite is certainly Rosario. Rosario is of course coming off a down 2022 season in which he hit a meager .212/.259/.587. He’s a career .270/.305/.767 hitter though whom the team signed to a 2-year, $18 million deal. Their hope is that he rebounds after a career-worst campaign largely affected by vision issues. Next in line is probably Jordan Luplow, who signed a 1-year, $1.4 million deal this offseason. Luplow is a career .213/.313/.745 hitter who can play all of the outfield positions on defense. The Braves made separate trades for White & Hilliard, who will compete for depth purposes. Marcell Ozuna will likely get some outfield reps as well, assuming that he’s still on the team. Ozuna’s defense & arm strength are both awful, but his bat sometimes keeps him in the lineup.
What about DH?
Speaking of Ozuna, he’s certainly a candidate to be the team’s primary designated hitter. Unfortunately, the Braves just seem stuck with him after being unable to find any trade partners. Travis d’Arnaud could also see some reps there on the days that he’s not in the lineup at catcher. The same can be said for Sean Murphy, as both of our catchers excel on both offense & defense. This is clearly an area of concern for the Braves, as it certainly appears as though we’re heading for a full-fledged committee situation at designated hitter as Spring Training slowly approaches.
Grissom at SS?
Replacing Dansby Swanson in the lineup will be no easy task for the Braves, as he was an MVP-caliber player for the team last year in producing a .277/.329/.447 batting line while winning his first career Gold Glove award on defense, which earned him 5.7 WAR for the year. Vaughn Grissom is the current favorite to replace Swanson after bursting onto the scene last year as a 21-year-old rookie who hit .311/.354/.473 in August before sputtering down the stretch run. He’s been working with 3B coach Ron Washington this offseason to improve his defense at SS. This will be a new experience for Grissom, as he primarily played 2B for the Braves last season. Time will tell whether or not he’s up to the challenge, but he should get plenty of opportunities. Orlando Arcia will also be in competition with Grissom for the starting role, and although he’s played there as a starter before, the team would rather have him available off the bench in 2023.
Soroka or Anderson as the 5th starter?
Braves fans received a couple of positive updates regarding Mike Soroka at Braves Fest a few weeks ago, which are that he’s fully healthy & finally having a normal offseason for once. That’s great news for a player who burst onto the scene as a rookie in 2019 but hasn’t been the same player since while dealing with two separate Achilles tendon tears back in 2020 & 2021. You can’t help but root for the guy, & the team getting him back as the 5th starter would be huge. He’ll compete with roommate Ian Anderson for the last spot in the Braves starting pitching core. Ian Anderson had a rough 2022 season, but it’s possible that he could bounce back in a big way. He ended up sitting out the end of the 2022 season with a strained oblique muscle, which may have inadvertently contributed to some of his issues (command, getting hit hard) from last year. This will be a big season for him as the team determines whether or not to keep him around or use him as a trade chip to upgrade an area of need (hello LF & DH) at the 2023 trade deadline.
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