The Braves announced their 26-man opening-day roster Thursday morning in advance of their season opener in Washington.
The list includes four players who entered spring training as non-roster invitees and not on the 40-man roster: pitchers Jesse Chavez and Jared Shuster, infielder Ehire Adrianza and outfielder Kevin Pillar. Shuster was considered a long shot to make the opening-day roster, as was relief pitcher Michael Tonkin.
The Braves also announced Thursday that they placed pitcher Kolby Allard, Tyler Matzek and Huascar Ynoa on the 60-day injured list, which cleared spots on the 40-man roster. Also, the team placed Raisel Iglesias on the 15-day IL, retroactive to Monday. Matzek and Ynoa are rehabbing following Tommy John surgery. Allard suffered a Grade 2 oblique strain during spring training.
Here is the 26-man roster:
Pitchers (13): RH Nick Anderson, RH Jesse Chavez, LH Max Fried, RH Joe Jiménez, LH Dylan Lee, LH Lucas Luetge, RH Collin McHugh, LH A.J. Minter, RH Charlie Morton, LH Jared Shuster, RH Spencer Strider, RH Michael Tonkin, RH Kirby Yates
Catchers (2): Travis d’Arnaud, Sean Murphy
Infielders (5): Ehire Adrianza, Ozzie Albies, Orlando Arcia, Matt Olson, Austin Riley
Outfielders (6): Ronald Acuña Jr., Michael Harris II, Sam Hilliard, Marcell Ozuna, Kevin Pillar, Eddie Rosario
Opening-day lineup
The Braves’ opening-day lineup looked like this:
RF Acuña
1B Olson
3B Riley
2B Albies
C Murphy
LF Ozuna
CF Harris
DH d’Arnaud
SS Arcia
LHP Fried
The Braves started Ozuna in left and went with d’Arnaud as the DH because they knew they would face lefty Patrick Corbin. This is presumably why they have Albies, a switch-hitter, in the cleanup spot. Four of the first five batters are right-handed hitters.
“Kind of trying to beat the starter, pretty much,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Feel really good about where all the guys are. I think we could’ve went a lot of different ways. I don’t know that there’s a right or wrong decision. I like the way it’s balanced out right now.”
Snitker lauded Ozuna.
“I think it was very impressive how he came from Day 1 and the shape he was in,” Snitker said. “I ran him on the road a lot just for those at-bats, and he was up for doing anything and everything just to get himself going. I like where he’s at.”
Braves trade for a pitcher
On Wednesday night, the Braves acquired left-hander Richard Lovelady from the Royals for cash considerations. They optioned him to Triple-A Gwinnett.
Lovelady is a Kennesaw State alum. The Royals drafted him in the 10th round in 2016.
The 27-year-old last appeared in the majors in 2021. He has a 5.62 ERA over 41-2/3 innings in the majors.
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