Braves publicize their 2018 Spring Training non-roster invitees
Such an exciting part of the year. The spring season is right around the corner which means baseball will be here before you know it. Atlanta Braves pitchers and catchers report to Orlando on February 13th with their first practice on the following day. Positional players report date is February 18th with their first full day workout scheduled for February 19.
We’ve got 18 days before Braves pitchers and catchers report down south!
Many players have been posting videos on social media of their workouts so that’s been great to see. It’s not just right around the corner for us, it’s for the players as well.
The other great part about this time of year is we get updates and news about the Atlanta Braves almost daily. This keeps us all excited!
On Friday, the Braves posted their 2018 Spring Training non-roster invitees. The Braves have invited 21 players that aren’t on the 40-man roster to ST…seven pitchers, five catchers, four infielders and five outfielders.
Pitchers – Right-handed pitchers Mike Soroka, Kyle Wright, Miguel Socolovich, Josh Graham and Luke Jackson. Left-handed pitchers Kolby Allard and Phil Pfeifer
Catchers – Alex Jackson, Kade Scivicque, William Contreras, Tyler Marlene and Rob Brantly
Infielders – Austin Riley, Sean Kazmar, Ray-Patrick Didden and Christian Colon
Outfielders – Ronald Acuna, Cristian Pache, Dustin Peterson, Danny Santana and Jaff Decker
Atlanta #Braves Announce 2018 Spring Training Non-Roster Invitees: pic.twitter.com/5n2KbXBJlc
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) January 26, 2018
It doesn’t matter very often — and God bless you if you have this stat — but it’s difficult to make the Opening Day roster if you’re a non-roster invitee. Don’t get me wrong, it happens almost yearly, but it is difficult. A few dominos need to fall correctly.
Out of this list who has the chance to make the Opening Day 2018 Atlanta Braves?
The first name you’ve got to think of is that Acuna guy. If he comes out smoking hot in Spring Training, it will be tough to send him down to Gwinnett.
From there, you’d like to say some of those top arms on this list, but no way they make this years opening day roster. They’ll get their chance, but none of the Big 3 — Allard, Soroka or Wright have pitched at the Triple-A level yet.
I hate to say this, but the player with the best chance to make the team is Luke Jackson and Danny Santana. Ugh, my fingers hurt after typing that.
Jackson still has the opportunity to be successful in the Braves bullpen though. And with the Braves planning to have an eight-man bullpen, I’d say Jackson has the best chance.
Next: Atlanta Braves look to improve left field
I’m pumped just writing this article…which gets me to today’s activities…FanFest at SunTrust Park! Check out the Braves social media pages because they’ve been posting a lot already!