Atlanta Braves’ Prospective Opening Day Player Watch – Week 2

Published: 24^th Feb 11 8:37 pm

Chad
Chad

RANT It!

This is the first installment in a new series of blogs. In these blogs, I will briefly examine the players and prospects who are making a splash in Spring Training for the Atlanta Braves.

Here are your opening day locks to make the team (unless there is a meltdown or injury) -
Catchers – Brian McCann and David Ross
1st Base – Freddie Freeman and Eric Hinske
2nd Base – Dan Uggla
Shortstop – Alex Gonzalez
3rd Base – Chipper Jones
Right Field – Jason Heyward and Joe Mather*
Center Field – Nate McLouth
Left Field – Martin Prado
Starting Pitchers – Tim Hudson, Derek Lowe, Tommy Hanson and Jair Jurrjens
Relief Pitchers – Craig Kimbrel, Jonny Venters, Eric O’Flaherty, Peter Moylan, Scott Linebrink, George Sherill

*Joe Mather is expected to be a back-up first baseman, left fielder, right fielder and center fielder.

There are four spots open, possibly five if Mather does not perform well, on the Braves roster headed into Spring Training.

Here are the races -
5th Starter: The Candidates – Mike Minor, Brandon Beachy and the late addition of Rodrigo Lopez
Relief Pitcher: The Candidates – The question should be who is not a candidate. Almost every pitcher that is at Spring Training will be given a shot at this spot: excluding Julio Teheran and Randall Delgado.
Back-up Infielder – The Candidates – Diory Hernadez, Brandon Hicks and Brooks Conrad lead the charge for this spot. There could be a surprise here, but I wouldn’t bet on it. At least one of these three will be with the Braves on opening day.
Back-up Center Fielder – The Candidates – Jordan Schaefer, Matt Young and Joe Mather*

Here are the guys who have made an impression so far at camp:
Jordan Schaefer – He has come to camp with a chip on his shoulder this year. He has said he finally feels healthy for the first time since breaking a bone in his hand in 2009 when he had won the Center Field job out of Spring Training. All indications are that he will push Nate McLouth hard this Spring. His sights are to make the team as a back-up center fielder and if McLouth stumbles, take back his job.
Julio Teheran – No surprise here. He has no chance of making the Braves’ opening day roster. He is headed to AAA and should be knocking on the Braves’ door by midseason if needed.
Brett Oberholtzer – A 21 year old southpaw. He has made an impression on a number of coaches so far. Many expect him to be included in the class of Teheran, Delgado and Arodys Vizcaino soon. I wouldn’t bet on him being on the opening day roster. A starting rotation in the Braves’ minor league system will more than likely be his home.
Christian Bethancourt – He is a highly regarded catching prospect. He was called out this week by Javy Lopez and told that he needed to work on not being too arrogant. Apparently, there has been an improvement after the conversation with Lopez.