Braves Report: One week out

Hello, friends.

Wanna vote in the bracket we started over in the Win Column? We’re pitting 16 Atlanta athletes (including five Braves) against each other for the title of Ultimate Fan Favorite.

The first round is underway right here, right now — and you already have to choose between Drake Baldwin and Matt Olson.

Happy voting.

SPRING TRAINING MIGHT BE TOO LONG

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

By Chad Bishop

If there is such a thing as the “dog days of spring training,” the Braves were in the thick of it earlier this week. Position players, mostly, are ready to go. Pitchers are maybe 80%-90% ready for the real deal. The coaching staff is living through “Groundhog Day.”

That’s why workouts like Monday morning’s help to break up the monotony.

Here’s what went down inside CoolToday Park:

But there was catch.

The players had to swing from the opposite side of the plate — left-handed for righties and right-handed for lefties. Not a big deal for, say, Albies and catcher Jonah Heim, both switch-hitters. A little more challenging for power-hitting righty Austin Riley.

The swings and misses were plenty. The backspin pop-ups landing behind the mound were just as many. And the laughs ensued. Add all that to Braves coaches in the field trying get outs and showing off their own (maybe outdated?) athleticism, and it was quite the scene.

The reason for the drill, truth be told, was to focus on base running. A swing and a miss became a dropped third strike and forced the batter to break for first to try to beat out the throw. Braves players worked on hustling first to third on a soft single to the outfield, or breaking toward home on a dribbler in the infield.

In the end, I’m not sure which team left victorious.

But at least for a little while the mundane was definitely defeated.

📲 Thanks again, Chad. Y’all make sure to follow him on X … and keep tabs on more live updates from spring training here.

STILL ON TAP

Some notable things remain on the calendar ahead of next Friday’s season opener at home against the Royals.

📺 Saturday: Your local Gray TV station delivers a double dose of baseball.

🎟️ Sunday: Don’t forget to scoop up free tickets if you’re inclined to attend an “open house” at Truist Park. Festivities run from 1 to 4 p.m.

😮‍💨 Wednesday: The Braves’ Grapefruit League finale. Noon against the Rays.

Somewhere in there, the team will make its final roster cuts, too. Here’s the AJC’s latest best guess at who sticks around.

ARE THE BRAVES TOO BORING?

Credit: Gerald Herbert/AP

Credit: Gerald Herbert/AP

Manager Walt Weiss says he likes where the Braves are at.

“These guys are hungry,” he said this week. “They’ve seen some narratives out there the last few years … ”

He kept going. But let’s stop right there.

Narratives, huh?

We’ll assume that’s not a reference to “nobody can hit anymore,” leaving another likely option: the assertion that the Braves of recent vintage are too boring.

Fireless.

Lacking in the “outspoken leader” department.

The Athletic’s Jayson Stark reignited the debate this week by quoting a person described as “a longtime coach from a rival team.”

The unidentified coach said things like this about the Bravos:

Now, we at the Braves Report take anonymous quotes from the opposition with a lot more than one grain of salt.

Then again, there’s certainly a fair share of … milquetoast professionalism in that clubhouse. And I can attest that “this team has no fire” emails were the most common ones to bless my inbox in 2025.

But what say you as we head into 2026?

Overblown? Dreading a rudderless repeat? or just hoping better personal performances (and a managerial change) cure all ills?

✉️ Hit up the Braves Report mailbag to weigh in.

HOT PITCHER DU JOUR

The Braves rotation is pretty set: Chris Sale, Spencer Strider, Reynaldo López, Grant Holmes and Bryce Elder.

There’s a strong chance of JR Ritchie somewhere down the road, and Martín Pérez is making his pitch to stick around, too.

😳 But we need to talk about Didier Fuentes — who’s been nothing short of fantastic.

Yep. Seventeen Ks and nary a base runner.

The 20-year-old struggled mightily in his four-start Major League debut last season (an admittedly rushed affair necessitated by, uh, everyone else’s arms falling off). He rebounded by posting a 3.63 ERA during his subsequent stint with Triple-A Gwinnett, where he’ll presumably start 2026. It may be a bit before he’s back in the bigs with any regularity.

But Fuentes has certainly used the spring to remind folks why he’s a top-5 prospect.

QUICK, SOME OTHER NEWS!

📺 We’re still waiting to see if/how you’ll be able to watch the Braves on existing cable and satellite providers. But the team did confirm that the usual broadcast crew remains on board (occasional Frenchy included)

🤷 Perhaps predictably, MLB upheld Jurickson Profar’s season-long suspension. Profar had filed an appeal.

💪 Ben Gamel: 33 years old, out of the majors since 2024 and, just maybe, the Braves’ fifth outfielder.

👋 Shortstop Ha-Seong Kim and his nine healthy fingers reported to camp this week, after rehabbing in Atlanta for a while. Still no real timeline on his return.

🤔 MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said the World Baseball Classic may eventually move to midseason (in theory meaning fewer playing time restrictions and/or squeamishness about participating, particularly for pitchers).

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Credit: Rebecca Blackwell/AP

Credit: Rebecca Blackwell/AP

Ronald Acuña Jr. (center left) did not win World Baseball Classic MVP, but he was more than happy to hold the big shiny plate for fellow Venezuelan Maikel Garcia (center right).

Thanks for reading the Braves Report. Tell a friend — and maybe give the Win Column newsletter a shot, too.

Until next time.