During spring training an underrated position battle will have a lot of eyes from Braves management on several players. Given the daunting everyday lineup, the Atlanta Braves' biggest question marks for the 26-man roster lie on the margins. The key area Atlanta will have to make some tough decisions on is finalizing the players they will carry on their bench to begin the regular season.
Eli White is guy who served admirably in that role in 2024. The former Clemson Tiger played all three outfield positions last year for Atlanta, and slashed .282/.333/.436 across his limited playing time. White is set to battle Luke Williams, Nick Allen, and Rule 5 pick Christian Cairo for the final couple roster spots.
White is entering his sixth season in 2025, but apparently he's adding some tools to his bag in hopes of giving him the extra boost it may take to secure a seat on the flight to San Diego in a month.
White set to play infield this spring, become more versatile so he can make Opening Day roster
News came out yesterday afternoon that Eli White will take most of his spring work in the infield. This is a bit of a shock as White has spent over 1,000 career innings in the outfield, compared to just 28 career innings on the dirt. Those 28 innings all came at second base, with a few coming last season with Atlanta, and the other 25 coming in 2021 with the Rangers.
White becoming more versatile could be a big boost for the Braves, as they will look to navigate the outfield without Ronald Acuna Jr. for the beginning of the season. Thanks to White's speed, he generally grades out pretty well defensively in the outfield. The front office and coaches will keep watch on whether or not they think that defensive prowess can translate to the infield dirt.
If so, the Braves may have a great bench player on their hands. This would make White one of the top pinch-running options, as well as a top defensive replacement for multiple positions. When filling out a contending roster it's important to have guys who bring plus value in certain areas occupying the bench. Eli White may not be a ready to step in starter due to injury at this point of his career, but he's clearly intent on carving out a longer career by proving he can handle multiple defensive positions. Atlanta knows those are the type of guys you need on the 26-man roster.