The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Pitching depth on full display
Manager impressed by latest prospects, veterans in camp.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA. — After watching pitchers throw bullpen sessions on the back fields for the past three days at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports complex, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez feels even better about the group of arms at his disposal than he did when spring training began.
The next step is watching them face hitters in batting practice, beginning with the first fullsquad workout Thursday morning. Braves position players other than catchers are scheduled to report Wednesday, though most already are in camp, taking batting practice in the covered cages and on the main field while the pitchers work on the back fields.
“I’ve been real impressed with the entire group of pitchers as a whole,” Gonzalez said. “We’ve got some pretty good arms, we really do. Overall I’m really happy with the pitching situation. It’s (only Feb. 24), but there’s some good talent out there.”
The manager could be seen moving from field to field the past three days, getting his first look at many of the high-level pitching prospects the Braves acquired in offseason trades. He’s also checking in on some veterans they signed who are competing for roster spots, such as lefthander Wandy Rodriguez, a non-roster invitee and a leading candidate for the fifth-starter job.
“Wandy Rodriguez looks really good,” Gonzalez said after watching him Monday. “He spun some breaking balls.”
Rodriguez, who will have a $2 million salary if he makes the major league team, is competing with fellow veteran Eric Stults and a pair of prospects, Mike Foltynewicz and lefty Manny Banuelos.
The Braves would consider putting either of the prospects in the bullpen to begin the season.
Rodriguez, 36, was limited to 18 major league starts in the past two seasons because of injuries and was 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA in six starts with Pittsburgh in 2014. Once a fixture at or near the top of the Astros’ rotation, he won nine or more games in eight consecutive seasons through 2012 with the Astros and Pirates.
“He pitched a little winter ball,” Gonzalez said of the lefty, who had a 1.29 ERA in two starts in the Dominican Winter League, with five hits and one run allowed in seven innings. “He’s healthy. His arm’s working really good. He’s not laboring. Spinning the breaking ball.
“Boy, if we could get him back to those Pittsburgh Pirate years, or even Houston Astro years — pretty good fifth starter. He was their ace a couple of years, a guy that made some All-Star teams if I’m not mistaken. And he’s a guy that, hitting against him, he’d give you fits.”
Rodriguez had 11 or more wins in four consecutive seasons through 2012, while posting an ERA of 3.76 or lower in more than 190 innings every year in that period, including two seasons with 205 innings.
A little like Lofton: Mallex Smith, a speedy Braves center-field prospect acquired from the Padres in this winter’s Justin Upton trade, was taking batting practice Tuesday morning. New Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer and president of baseball operations John Hart were among the onlookers next to the cage.
Smith was instructed to bunt on the last pitch of his round, and he laid down a beauty. He didn’t turn square toward the pitcher, but used a dragbunt method, moving quickly out of the box after making contact with the ball and hitting it on the ground, where it rolled some 15-20 feet in front of the plate.
“I like that, a little Kenny Lofton!” said Seitzer, a former Kansas City third baseman who faced Lofton many times in the 1990s when Lofton played for Cleveland. “That son of a buck always got me with that.”
Hart, Indians general manager in the 1990s, laughed and said to Seitzer, “Yeah, I saw a little K-Lo in that, too.”
Like Lofton, Smith, 21, is a left-handed hitter with blazing speed. The Tallahassee, Fla., native likely will start at DoubleA Mississippi after hitting .310 with a .403 on-base percentage and leading minor league baseball with 88 stolen bases (114 attempts) in 120 games for two Padres Single-A affiliates. His 41 extra-base hits included seven triples and five home runs.
In his first full season of pro ball in 2013, Smith hit .262 with a .367 OBP for Single-A Fort Wayne and had 64 steals (80 attempts) in 110 games.