5 Braves players fighting for their futures ahead of 2024 season

For the Atlanta Braves, the vast majority of the players that they have down in spring training could be considered to be in the middle of their primes. The Braves' roster is largely pretty young, but with enough experience to get that veteran label. It is easy to forget that while Atlanta has a bunch of 20-somethings on the team, a lot of those guys have contributed to six straight NL East division titles and multiple deep playoff runs.

That said, there are some other types of guys in camp for the Braves this year. Of course there are the prospects that are just happy to get to experience big league camp with little to no chance of making the team by Opening Day. However, there are also guys that are in camp that are just trying to get one last chance to stick in the big leagues.

It is that latter group that we will be focusing on here. Given that the Braves are basically locked in on the position player side of things, the players that Atlanta has in camp this year that fit the bill are all pitchers as they could actually win a job. Some are wily veterans that have had to battle adversity. Others are guys without a ton of experience, but who are running out of chances to solidify a big league role.

With the explanations out of the way, here are a few of the guys that the Braves have in camp that are fighting for their futures and their careers in 2024.

Huascar Ynoa

While there has always been a healthy amount of disagreement as to whether Huascar Ynoa should have been a starter or a reliever, everyone agrees that he has a very live arm. When he is right, his fastball sits in the mid-90's and has some life and his slider can make guys look foolish. After a promising start to his career, however, Ynoa finds himself at a crossroads with his career with the Braves.

At the end of the 2022 season, Ynoa underwent Tommy John surgery. That, in itself, isn't that big of a problem given that a lot of guys have TJS in their careers. The problem is that while Ynoa has been out, the Braves have assembled a stacked bullpen and with Ynoa's future as a starter very much in doubt, one wonders where Ynoa fits in the Braves' future plans if he does at all.

Fast forward to this spring where Ynoa was expected to compete for a spot on the pitching staff somewhere and he instead has been slowed by soreness in his repaired elbow. Ynoa needs to hope that he can get back to throwing soon and remind the Braves of why they have hung on to him this long, because otherwise he may find that the Braves will simply have to move on from him to other options that can actually stay on the mound.