Braves News: Spring Training is coming, Spencer Strider, more
By Eric Cole
Well Atlanta Braves fans, we are in the home stretch of the offseason. Spring training is just a couple of weeks away as pitchers and catchers report on February 15th with the position players reporting a few days after that. If you need a quick rundown of the important info you may need on spring training (especially if you are planning on attending), we put together a quick write-up for you.
This spring should be very interesting for Braves fans as we will see how Vaughn Grissom is looking both at the plate and in the field. We'll also get to see how left field shakes out, who ends up winning the fifth rotation spot out of spring, and who gets the last couple of spots in the bullpen. Oh, and there is some guy named Sean Murphy who we all should be excited about.
More Braves News
Elsewhere on the site, we took at look at the projections for the Braves' young pitching stud Spencer Strider. While Strider put up some eye-popping numbers for the Braves last season, the projections don't have him doing quite THAT again next season...at least not yet, and there are some good reasons why that is the case. Really fun deep dive from Mitchell.
MLB News
While the offseason is winding down, we are still getting rumors when it comes to moves. Zach Britton is one of the better relievers left on the free agent market, although the last couple of years have seen him deal with some injury and illness issues. The Astros seem to be in the camp that they don't buy that the arm fatigue Britton experienced upon his return last year is a long-term concern as they have been rumored to have strong interest in the lefty reliever.
We also had a bona fide trade yesterday as the Marlins and Red Sox got together on a deal. The trade has Matt Barnes heading to the Marlins to try and help bolster their bullpen with Richard Bleier being Boston's return in the deal. Barnes was a DFA casualty after the team signed former Brave Adam Duvall.