NORTH PORT, Fla. — For the Braves, the day of their first full-squad workout begins with a meeting that, on the schedule posted in the clubhouse, is titled, “Snit’s Welcome to Spring.” It is scheduled for 9:30 a.m., it will be in the auditorium and all must attend.
At this meeting, manager Brian Snitker – true to the meeting’s name – welcomed the players to major-league spring training. Asked if he wanted to reveal what he told the players, he jokingly declined – then offered one of his points to them.
“A big thing is to realize that we have an entire spring training,” Snitker said. “And I told them, I said, ‘You know what? It probably is too long, but you need it all.’
“I’ve come to learn over the years that it’s probably too long, but you need every bit of it. Just encourage guys to not push through with little nagging things. If we can give them a day here and there, then we are afforded that luxury to do it.”
On this Tuesday at CoolToday Park in North Port, Braves pitchers and catchers will work out together for the first time in 2023 – at least in an organized fashion. Many players arrived early and have been putting in work here since last week. Some arrived even earlier.
In the hours that followed Snitker’s meeting, Braves players went through their various stations. Below is an attempt to bring you into the action.
10:45 a.m.
As the workout begins, pitchers are on the agility field getting loose. Some are playing catch, others are jogging or warming up in other ways.
“Stop showing off!” Ozzie Albies jokingly yells at one of his teammates.
One of the pitchers here is Kyle Wright, who is a bit behind schedule after receiving a cortisone injection in his right shoulder in January. This is the first time his shoulder has felt normal since 2020, he said in the clubhouse before the team meeting.
“You get used to grinding in this game and having to push through,” Wright said. “You almost forget what your arm’s supposed to feel like because it’s just part of the game, it’s what we do. It’s very relieving to know that it feels healthy again.”
Wright described the previous feeling in his shoulder as “sticky” and “catchy.”
“You just won’t quite get out in front as far as you want,” Wright said, alluding to his throwing motion.
Before he began throwing bullpen sessions last month, he told the Braves his shoulder was not quite at full strength. He was able to throw and long toss, but wanted to be fully healthy.
Lots of factors could’ve contributed to the issues, Wright said. He has put a lot of innings on his arm since college. Early in his career, he would go up and down between Triple-A and the big leagues, which forced him to continue changing routines. It all could be cumulative.
Wright is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Friday. The Braves don’t yet know when he’ll make his first Grapefruit League start, but they expect him to be stretched out enough to be on the opening-day roster.
“This kind of allowed me to get back to strengthening the right way and putting (strength into) the right muscles that I need to make sure that my shoulder feels strong,” Wright said of the cortisone injection.
As the day gets started, Wright plays catch with Jimmy Leo, one of the team’s bullpen catchers.
10:56 a.m.
From the right-field concourse at the main stadium, you can look down onto the field and see the outfielders grouped together. They have been going through their drills to begin the day.
Right fielder Ronald Acuña is fully healthy. Center fielder Michael Harris is coming off a season in which he won National League Rookie of the Year. That means the top story in the outfield this spring is left field, which is a wide-open competition.
Eddie Rosario? Jordan Luplow? Kevin Pillar? Eli White? Marcell Ozuna? Sam Hilliard?
The Braves will have options. There’s a lot of competition for those final roster spots.
Across the ballpark, the infielders are doing defensive work.
11 a.m.
Ron Washington will turn 71 in April. Yet here he is, hitting ground balls with the fungo bat.
It is a classic sight if you’ve ever been around the Braves. The infield guru is always teaching.
He hits one to Matt Olson, who fields it, spins and fires to second base. He hits others to shortstop, where Vaughn Grissom, Orlando Arcia and prospect Braden Shewmake stand.
This is the other big position battle: Grissom or Arcia? It seems like Grissom has the inside track, but the Braves have been clear about this much, at least publicly: He must win the job. They won’t hand it to him.
Some of the coaches watch the infield work. The catchers – Sean Murphy, Travis d’Arnaud and Chadwick Tromp – are not in their gear, but are standing at their respective bases and catching balls from the infielders who just fielded them.
11:05 a.m.
Fans are lined up in the stands near the Braves’ home dugout here. There are a couple of signs. They hope players head toward them for autographs.
This spring also is cool for the fans. It’s the first normal spring training (we hope) at this place.
The Braves began holding spring training here in 2020 – we know what happened that year. In 2021, they dealt with the effects of COVID-19. In 2022, spring training started late because of the lockout.
It’s nice to see the fans out here.
11:10 a.m.
Ah, PFPs – short for pitchers’ fielding practice. When you see them, you know it’s spring training.
A pitcher starts on the mound and mimics a pitch. A coach then hits a grounder somewhere, and the pitcher must make the correct play, whether it be fielding the ball and throwing to a base or covering a base.
Braves ace Max Fried goes first. He’s one topic of conversation because everyone wants to know whether he’ll soon become the next player to receive an extension from president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos. Fried said last week that he would be open to it, and that he and the team have had good dialogue.
Ian Anderson is next. He’s another intriguing storyline. Can he put his 2022 struggles behind him and continue his ascent? Will he win the fifth rotation spot?
Kirby Yates is after him. After coming back from Tommy John surgery, we’re about to see whether Yates can still be elite. The Braves hope he can.
Then it’s Strider, who finished second – behind his teammate – in NL Rookie of the Year voting. He works as hard as anyone, and is routine-oriented. He hopes to put together another terrific season.
The pitchers, of course, have fun with one another during this session.
“Ohhhhh,” they all go when Strider covers a base, appearing to razz the 24-year-old about how he did it.
“Atta boy, Danny!” a couple yell after Danny Young, a non-roster invitee, completes one of his reps.
11:15 a.m.
This writer can start to feel the hot sun get warmer on his neck, and he worries he didn’t apply enough sunscreen before heading out to the workout.
11:28 a.m.
Batting practice, which always is fun to watch, begins with the catchers.
Newcomer Sean Murphy is known for his defense, but the bat could impact games. Batting practice doesn’t tell you much, but you can definitely see if a guy has pop – and Murphy has it.
“Next group!” hitting coach Kevin Seitzer eventually yells.
The real fun begins.
11:35 a.m.
Acuña is in this group. His batting practice rounds don’t disappoint.
At one point, the AJC’s Jay Black, co-host of the Braves Report podcast, counts that Acuña hit four balls over the batter’s eye in center field and one over the berm in left field. Oh, and he blasted one that went off the scoreboard.
It looked rather effortless, too.
During batting practice, Terry McGuirk, the Braves’ chairman and CEO, walks up to the batting turtle (the cage around home plate) to watch. He has a quick conversation with Grissom, who could be tasked with replacing Dansby Swanson, who’s in Mesa, Arizona, going through spring training with the Cubs.
11:53 a.m.
By now, the workout is beginning to wind down. But Olson, Austin Riley and others still have not hit, so they are in one of the final groups.
“That wind is something else!” Washington yells jokingly after Olson launches one over the right-field wall.
“Who asked you?” Olson said.
Washington continued messing with the hitters, especially Olson.
“Probably won’t ever do that again!” he told Olson.
“That wind is blowing out!” he said at one point.
“Embarrassing!” he yelled a few times.
This is Washington. He’s one of the funniest men in baseball, always providing entertainment.
12:13 p.m.
The Braves’ workout is over, and Snitker sits on the top of the dugout bench. He will address the media, which he does daily during spring training.
Among the topics he discusses: Michael Soroka, Riley, the workout, the team meeting.
“The thing you want on the first day is to get on the field and get it over with,” Snitker said. “Get that first one behind you (with) everybody healthy. We got done exactly what we wanted to today.”
Asked who stands out at this point, Snitker said everyone sticks out. The games haven’t started. He’s excited to see which unknowns will make names for themselves this season.
The 67-year-old Snitker, who has spent his adult life in this organization, has always enjoyed spring training.
“I can’t stay out as late as I used to,” the manager jokes. “I used to stay out and spend all the meal money they gave us. I can’t do that anymore.”
Where would he go?
“I was at the laundromat,” he says with a smirk.
On Saturday, the Braves begin playing Grapefruit League games. They will host the Red Sox to kick off their spring schedule.
Snitker is probably itching for the games to begin, right?
“I’m itching to get to tomorrow, right now,” he said.
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