Braves Notes: Rotation, Jackson, Freeman

During last year’s World Sequence run, the Braves discovered they mixed and matched towards the back of the rotation Max Fried, Charlie Morton and Ian Anderson. Atlanta hasn’t done much to solidify that group this winter, once again relying on a handful of less proven weapons in the second Finals.

Supervisor Brian Snitker instructed reporters (along with Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) over the weekend that righties Kyle Wright and Huascar Ynoa seem to be the favorites for places four and five. Ynoa always seemed to have a leg up, having posted a 4.05 ERA / 3.62 SIERA in 18 games last season. However, Wright only made two joint season starts at the majors. The 26-year-old had a fine show at Triple-A Gwinnett, where he practiced 137 frames from three.02 ERA balls. Wright, a former High-5 player and well-regarded contender, still had plenty of MLB success, but his minor-league career and the level of his arsenal still give Atlanta Brass reason to consider him as a long-term option .

The Braves are scheduled to play daily from their opening game on April 7 through April 20. With this heavy workload early in the year, Toscano writes that membership could potentially draw on a six-man rookie early on. If that’s true, rookie Spencer Strider – who climbed 4 minor league ranges last season to find success in the majors in September – could take the ultimate spot, writes Toscano, left-handed Tucker Davidson and Kyle Mueller additionally in this mixture.

All of these pitchers outside of the Braves top-three starters have years left in the minor leagues, so anyone from that group could potentially be sent to Gwinnett throughout the season. You can also go straight into a multi-inning feature from the bullpen. Atlanta has one of the league’s strongest assists on paper, but one key member has yet to field this spring.

Luke Jackson has coped with some tightness in her forearm, the group instructed reporters (along with Athletic’s David O’Brien). The 30-year-old has thrown to the side so the Braves are obviously not involved as he struggles with a major absence, but it’s not yet known if he will have time to get back into shape before next season come week. Jackson has been in the Atlanta bullpen for the last 5 years but had a very successful exhibition in 2021, pitching a 1.98 ERA / 3.75 SIERA in 63 2/3 frames.

While the Braves rotation has looked pretty much the same since last season, their relocation participation was one of the many stories of the offseason. Acquired Atlanta Matt Olson and let Freddie Freeman walk in free company. Editor-in-chief Alex Anthopoulos and the editorial board were no doubt aware that the call could be divisive among the many fans, and Freeman himself said shortly after being shocked by the Olson trade. At his introductory press conference with the Dodgers, Freeman urged that Brave’s brass wasn’t as communicative as he expected them to be throughout his time on the open market. He also seemed to dismiss Anthopoulos’ claim that the Olson trade was essentially the most difficult transfer of his government job.

Speaking to Journal-Constitution’s Gabriel Burns over the weekend, Freeman addressed that feedback and struck a lighter note. The five-time All-Star mentioned that he spoke to the Braves’ baseball ops chief last week and apologized for the feedback he gave to his introductory press. “It helped to listen to his facet of problems‘ Freeman instructed Burns. “I didn’t reveal what we talked about. However, you will be able to think about what we talked about in three hours. It was good for us to be good again. Now that we’ve seen each other, we’re just going to hug. I asked him to come back to LA (for the April sequence). I don’t suppose he would return to the LA sequence once they were out here. I said, “Please, I want to see you and hug you because we’ve done so many good things together.””

Regardless of whether the fences are fixed or not, the Braves and Dodgers will have plenty of memorable clashes in the seasons to come. The pair met in last year’s NL Championship sequence and once again they appear to be two of the tallest groups in the senior circuit. FanGraphs forecasts are certainly forecasting Los Angeles and Atlanta as the NL two golf kits head into the year.