Opening Day is approaching quickly, and the Atlanta Braves have important roster decisions to make. Spring training has been tough for the Braves when it comes to their roster.
The Braves have performed well on the field this spring, but a suspension to Jurickson Profar and injuries to multiple players have dampened that success a tad. This leaves Atlanta in a tough spot, and they have holes they didn't expect to fill at the start of the 2026 season.
Some players won't make the Opening Day roster, but there are a select few who will find their way to the roster after the first month of the season.
Here are the Braves players that won't make Opening Day roster, but will be back quickly
James Karinchak
The Braves made an interesting decision to reassign Karinchak to minor league camp alongside a couple of other arms. Karinchak has had a great spring over four innings with one hit allowed, two walks, and nine strikeouts.
His stuff looked to be coming back to life, and he felt like a nice fit for the bullpen. Unfortunately, opening the season with 13 straight games may have hurt his chances. Atlanta will need to carry a long reliever to help with that workload.
Bullpen hopeful James Karinchak
— Gaurav (@gvedak) February 25, 2026
1IP 0H 0R 1BB 2K
4S: 93 MPH, 2000-2200 RPM
CB: 80-82 MPH, 2200-2300 RPM pic.twitter.com/1OD9shS6VY
Jose Suarez will likely get the call over Karinchak since Joey Wentz went down for the season with an ACL injury. The good news is that if Karinchak continues to shove, he will get the call soon after that long stretch ends.
JR Ritchie
Ritchie has a good chance of being a surprise addition to the Opening Day roster. However, there's a good reason Atlanta may wait a little while before giving him a shot. He's been very impressive this spring with a 3.38 ERA over eight innings, with five walks and eight strikeouts.
His high amount of walks is reason enough to have him begin the season at Triple-A. This will give him time to refine his delivery before making his MLB debut. Atlanta will be more inclined to let someone like Bryce Elder cover every fifth day since he has experience doing so. However, Braves fans will see Ritchie at some point in 2026.
Didier Fuentes
Fuentes did not have a great time in his four games with the Braves last season. He allowed 20 earned runs over 13 innings with six walks and 12 strikeouts. That is not a recipe for sustained success. That's why the Braves aren't very inclined to let him start the season in the rotation. They could surprise us, but it doesn't feel likely, especially given that Fuentes has minor league options left and other rotation candidates do not.
Fortunately, he is still young and has time to refine his pitching skills. Fuentes is showing some great improvement this spring over five innings pitched. He hasn't walked a batter, and he has punched out nine. He could be another Braves prospect thrust into the bullpen at some point.