3 Braves hitters who are not helping themselves during spring training
By Eric Cole
Luke Williams
One of the few roster spots on offense for the Braves that was up for grabs this spring was on the bench. Whichever catcher that isn't playing on a given day will take one spot and Luis Guillorme was apparently locked into another bench spot, but that last spot that will back up the outfield has seen a pitched battle among multiple guys with Luke Williams firmly in the mix.
Mark Bowman made a strong argument for Williams' inclusion on the Opening Day roster due to his positional versatility along with the fact that some of the other candidates (Forrest Wall, JP Martinez, David Fletcher kinda) may be better served playing every day in Gwinnett and staying ready in the event that they are needed for more than an inning or two a week. In a vacuum, all of that made a ton of sense.
However, spring training saw things change a bit and it was at least partially due to Williams' performance in camp. Despite the fact that he had a clear path to a bench spot in Atlanta this spring, he seemingly fumbled the bag as he slashed .125/.200/.250 in 17 games. Again, numbers aren't everything in spring training, but they do matter a lot more when there is actually a competition happening.
Ultimately, Williams' struggles along with Forrest Wall going off this spring seems to have turned the Braves' bench roster battle in Wall's favor leaving Williams on the outside looking in.