The Atlanta Braves are just a couple weeks or so away from playing baseball games that count and our long nightmare will be over. The Braves have somewhat avoided the major injury bug down at camp and appear poised to regain the form they lost in 2024 after losing a chunk of their roster to the injured list.
Figuring out what most of Atlanta's Opening Day roster is pretty straightforward. However, taking guesses as to who could occupy the last few slots has been a big part of the Braves' news cycle over the last few days including a catching option that turned the team down.
Braves News: Insider Mark Bowman makes intriguing Opening Day roster projection
Almost everyone is trying their hand at projecting Opening Day rosters right now and the Braves' does appear to be mostly set. The lineup is almost universally agreed upon as is most of the rotation and bullpen. However, picking who will occupy some of the bench and bullpen spots is a bit trickier, but Braves insider Mark Bowman took a pretty interesting stab at projecting Atlanta's roster.
In Bowman's projected Opening Day roster, he has Eli White and Nick Allen winning bench spots. White has been very impressive in camp thus far, but Allen is a bit more of a speculative fit despite the fact that he is a plus defender that can get Orlando Arcia out of the lineup. Bowman still has Grant Holmes in the Opening Day rotation along with Ian Anderson and he also has Buck Farmer and Enyel De Los Santos joining the newly acquired Hector Neris in the 2025 bullpen to start.
Braves News: Jurickson Profar to sit a few days, still on track for Opening Day
Pretty much the last thing the Braves needed in spring training was an injury and unfortunately, one came anyways to their biggest offseason acquisition Jurickson Profar. While Profar's wrist injury looked bad when it happened, the initial word after the fact was that Atlanta avoided disaster as Profar was diagnosed with a bone bruise.
Now that a few days have passed, it appears as though Profar is still on track for a relatively quick return. The most recent update from Wednesday morning is that Profar will be limited for a few days before beginning to swing a bat again. Importantly, Profar is "very confident" that he will be ready to play on Opening Day. For now, you may exhale.
Profar will undergo treatment and limit his on-field activities to things like standing in the box to track live pitches over the next few days. He could be cleared to swing within the next few days. He smiled and said “Very confident” when asked about being ready for Opening Day
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) March 12, 2025
Braves News: Yasmani Grandal turned down offer from Atlanta
The Braves' catching situation is a bit precarious at the moment to be sure. Sean Murphy came into camp as the primary catcher who was also coming off a dreadful 2024 season. Unfortunately, things got dicier when Murphy broke a rib after a HBP and now the job appears to be firmly in Drake Baldwin's hands to start the season.
However, it sounds like Atlanta was testing the free agent catching waters a bit even before Murphy got hurt. According a report, Yasmani Grandal turned down an offer from the Braves back in February. The Braves were likely just looking to add some cheap catching depth with the departure of Travis d'Arnaud and Grandal just wants more money to keep playing or a guarantee of more playing time than he was likely to see in Atlanta. At this stage of his career and with his recent production, both of those things feel like wishful thinking.