The season is finally upon us! The Atlanta Braves open up the season today in Washington, man that feels good to say after a long couple of months away from baseball. After an eventful spring that saw a few roster surprises, and some youthful additions to the rotation, the Braves are finally set to unveil the 26 man roster for the 2023 season.
Nothing terribly surprising coming out of Spring Training, with the one surprise being Dylan Dodd being left off the initial roster after the announcement he had cracked the rotation. This is most likely so the Braves can carry an extra reliever until Dodd is needed for the series in St. Louis. In his place, the Braves will carry Michael Tonkin as the extra arm in the pen which needed to add some length after the injury to Rasiel Iglesias. The extra depth will also be beneficial this early in the season as arms are still getting stretched out.
Position player wise, the biggest mystery left was who would be carried in the Outfield. Sam Hilliard was out of options and had a solid spring, playing his way onto the lineup. Kevin Pillar is another solid veteran whose addition should provide the Braves outfield with needed depth and versatility as the season goes along.
To accommodate all of these additions, the Braves made a few moves to the 40-man roster that were also announced this morning, selecting the contracts of Ehire Adrianza, Jesse Chaves, Kevin Pillar, and Jared Shuster, while making a series of expected IL moves.
Atlanta Braves Opening Day roster 2023
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) March 30, 2023