Check out the 10 Atlanta Braves to watch at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports.
The Atlanta Braves’ pitchers and catchers worked out for the first time this spring Wednesday at Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports.
The full squad’s first workout is set for Monday as the Braves prepare for their spring opener Feb. 23 against the New York Mets in Port St. Lucie.
Here are 10 players to watch for the Braves during spring training.
Freddie Freeman
The Braves’ best player is entering his eighth full major-league season, and he’s only 28. Freeman is returning to first base after shifting to third last season after Matt Adams was acquired. Adams signed with the Washington Nationals, but Freeman — a career .290 hitter with some pop (166 home runs on the back of his baseball card) — likely isn’t going anywhere. He is signed through 2021.
Ender Inciarte
The center fielder is coming off a breakout season. Inciarte made his first all-star team en route to a 201-hit season, and he has won Gold Gloves the past two seasons. He is always one batted ball away from a highlight-reel play.
Ronald Acuna
The 20-year-old outfielder began last season with the Class A Florida Fire Frogs in Kissimmee. Now he is in major-league spring training as perhaps baseball’s best prospect this side of Shohei Ohtani. The Braves are banking on Acuna winning a job in left field.
Ozzie Albies
Acuna is at the forefront of the Braves’ youth movement, but their loaded minorleague system also produced Albies. He passed a 57-game major-league audition last year and is atop the depth chart at second base. Albies is so young (21 years old) and so good, making the Braves understandably excited about the future.
Julio Teherán
Because the Braves’ rotation figures to be shaky, a bounce-back season by Teherán would help. He is coming off a 4.49 ERA and was touched for 31 home runs, both career highs, and his control regressed slightly. The Braves (72-90 in 2017) are counting on better results if they are to end a stretch of three seasons with at least 90 losses.
Arodys Vizcaino
Vizcaino collected a total of 33 saves over the past three seasons and never has been a full-time closer. He is far from the only question mark residing in Atlanta’s bullpen, but Vizcaino’s ability to handle the ninth inning would alleviate some worries.
Dansby Swanson
Swanson, 24, has experienced so much for a player so young — being drafted No. 1 overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2015, being traded the same year and being demoted last season. He and Inciarte arrived in the same trade. While one has flourished, the other is looking to rebound. Swanson is the projected starter at shortstop.
Nick Markakis
Entering his 13th majorleague season, Markakis is a silent and steady contributor. The right fielder ranks in the top 10 among active majorleaguers in career hits (2,052). How surprising is that? Although Markakis doesn’t possess much pop in his bat, the Braves can count on Markakis as they infuse youth into the lineup.
Charlie Culberson
The infielder was anonymous to most fans until he delivered in the postseason, including a homer in the World Series. A five-player trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers sent him to Atlanta, where he is expected to compete for a utility role. Culberson, 28, is well-traveled — the Braves are his fourth organization — but his latest relocation brought the Rome, Ga., native closer to home.
Scott Kazmir
Kazmir, 34, was part of that Braves-Dodgers trade that was largely a swap of hefty contracts. The good news is that Kazmir is completing a three-year deal for $48 million this year, so if he can’t regain a semblance of effectiveness after missing last season with hip and other issues, the commitment is short term. The big question: How much does Kazmir have left?