Atlanta Braves spring training: Who gets final bullpen and bench spots
By James Kunkle
Who gets the last bullpen spots?
Sort of the same story as the bench applies to the bullpen as well. Every team will enter the season with eight arms at the ready in the bullpen.
As far as the Atlanta Braves go, we seem to have six locks already in place to start the season. Those being the following pitchers
So simple math will tell you the Atlanta Braves have a few pitchers to play around with and fill out the last two spots of the bullpen.
The options the team seems to have are the following.
AJ Minter– It wasn’t that long ago at all that Minter was believed to be closer of the future. Also, being left-handed does not hurt his cause at all. However, their are no two-ways about it, Minter was dreadful last year and only pitched in two innings after getting a September call up. This Spring could be a pivotal one for the reliever.
Chad Sobotka– Sobotka took a step back in 2019 after a good rookie season in 2018. If he finds what he had in 2018, he could still be a weapon in the middle innings of a game.
Jacob Webb– For the brief time he was in the Atlanta Braves bullpen last year, Webb may have very well been the best option they had. The only blemish one might find with his numbers is he averaged less than a strikeout per inning, and in this day of age, that’s unusual for a reliever.
Patrick Weiglel– Weigel seems to be one of the next “prospects” to graduate and become a part of the Atlanta Braves team. Some people are saying that time may be out of the Spring if he throws good for the next few weeks. Weigel is coming off a season where he produced quality numbers at both Double-A and Triple-A.
Bryse Wilson– I might be in the minority, but I still believe long term, the bullpen better suits Bryse Wilson. The one caveat about this is if he pitches well enough this Spring, he will probably claim one of the last two rotation spots.
Before we have seen any pitches in a game, the leaders in this race to me would have to be Minter and Webb, but I could easily see this going a ton of different options and spring training will certainly matter to these pitchers.