ajc.com | Braves | Estrada sent to minors
Joey Dawley, Trey Hodges, and Jung Bong all made the bullpen to start the season. I’m not quite sure if this takes the Hampton DL stint into account. When I get a full 25-man roster, I’ll know. It does appear that the Braves went with the dreaded 12-man pitching staff, including eight relievers to start the season. How can they possibly have enough work for that many relievers?
Mark DeRosa is the only reserve infielder, apparently, meaning that the Braves lied when they said that he could win the every day third base job in spring training. Not that he was great, but he was far better than Vinny. Darren Bragg is the lone reserve outfielder, but several other players have outfield experience. Robert Fick is joined by the Franco Brothers at first base. While the pitching staff contains some surprises, the position players are exactly what I expected, though I’d hoped Vinny, and Henry Blanco — would be jettisoned.
We all hoped they would cut Blanco loose. Why didn’t they? The answer can be found in the AJC story:
“The Braves kept two catchers — starter Javy Lopez and Henry Blanco, who catches when Greg Maddux pitches.”
Blanco has the Maddux seal of approval which means he has better job security than the Pope. Nevermind that he’ll hurt Maddux’s chances to win when he’s out there and having him on the roster weakens that team overall.