Second baseman Albies sits with neck stiffness

Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies was a late scratch because of stiffness in his neck. Veteran Ehire Adrianza started in his place, going 0 for 2 in Tuesday’s 10-1 exhibition loss to the Pirates at Cooltoday Field in North Port, Fla.

“We didn’t want to take a chance,” manager Brian Snitker said of Albies, who felt the stiffness when he arrived at the ballpark Tuesday morning. “They worked on him to loosen it up. We don’t need to push anything like that.”

Other notes from Tuesday:

■ The Braves, who played most of their regulars to start the game, were outhit 17-1 by the Pirates. At one point, 16 consecutive Braves were retired before shortstop Braden Shewmake drew a walk in the eighth inning.

The Braves ended the no-hit and shutout bids with two outs in the ninth. Phillip Ervin singled for their only hit. Their only run was scored on a bases-loaded balk. Spring training games can be wild, sometimes.

■ “He got better as he went,” Snitker said of Bryse Wilson, who allowed two runs over three innings. “He might be the first guy we’ve had where the last inning was the best inning. His stuff was really good. He had a lot of deep counts, but I really liked the stuff.”

Wilson and Kyle Wright are competing for a potential rotation opening. This was only Wilson’s second appearance, so he’ll have several more opportunities to make an impression.

■ All-star starter Mike Soroka has continued giving reason for optimism as he works his way back from a torn Achilles. He’s thrown three live batting practices, which have earned glowing reviews.

“He looked good,” Snitker said. “His last live BP, he threw the ball really well. He’s feeling good. His arm is good. I think there’s just still boxes for the training staff to check off, but everything is going well.”

The conversation tends to center on whether Soroka will be ready for opening day, but more important, it seems the team will have him for the vast majority of the campaign.

That will be a major development for the Braves, who endured endless rotation troubles in 2020.

■ Betonline passed along their betting odds for the 2021 managerial awards. Snitker is the NL favorite at 7-1, ahead of the Dodgers’ Dave Roberts, Marlins’ Don Mattingly and Padres’ Jayce Tingler, all of whom are listed 8-1.

Snitker last won the award in 2018, when he oversaw the Braves’ 18-win leap. He was named Baseball America’s NL manager of the year in 2020 for his work navigating numerous rotation problems.

CURTIS COMPTON/CURTIS.COMPTON@AJC.COM Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies, who homered during the March 3 Grapefruit League game against the Baltimore Orioles, showed up at the park Tuesday with stiffness in his neck and was given the day off.