5 former Braves players off to troubling starts in spring training

Justyn-Henry Malloy

Malloy isn't a household name with Braves fans because he was sent to the Tigers in the deal that brought Joe Jimenez to Atlanta. That deal has worked out pretty well for the Braves as Jimenez has become a key part of their incredibly deep bullpen, but Henry-Malloy is no slouch. In 611 plate appearances with Detroit's Triple-A affiliate last year, he slashed .277/.417/.474 with 23 home runs and is poised to be an impact player for the Tigers in the very near future.

Unfortunately for Malloy, this spring has not been a kind one to him. Malloy has played a good bit thus far in camp (11 games) and has a couple extra base hits, but he also only sports a .514 OPS down at spring training thanks largely to the fact that he only has three hits so far. Don't expect that to stick, though, as Malloy is really good at getting on base and is starting to grow into the power that he lacked when he was with the Braves.

Caleb Durbin

Caleb Durbin was a delightfully weird prospect from the day that the Braves drafted him. He never had much in the way of power largely due to the fact that is only 5'6, but he can really run, has great bat-to-ball skills, and his strikeout rate going back to his college days at Washington University in St. Louis is comically low. Coming off a great stint in the Arizona Fall League this year, it sure looked like the Braves were going to regret trading him to the Yankees in the ill-fated Lucas Luetge deal.

Atlanta's pain has been held at bay so far this spring as Durbin has struggled. In pretty limited playing time down at spring training. Durbin is slashing .167/.294/.167 and has surprisingly struck out more than he has walked (seriously, that never happens with him) and has yet to steal a base. This is another case where the small sample of spring training probably isn't going to predict very much. Expect Durbin to excel yet again in 2024 and potentially see time in the big leagues sooner rather than later.