Spring is upon us and another Braves season is about to be underway. With key additions of Charlie Morton, Drew Smyly, and Marcell Ozuna, the Braves have solidified both their lineup and their starting rotation. However, many fans are worried about, and with good reason, the lack of depth in both the bullpen and the bench. While the Braves seem to be going for low cost lottery tickets to fill the last 3-4 spots on the roster, fan’s worries aren’t unjustified as there were many good players that went for very little money that could’ve provided the depth the Braves need to make it back to postseason play. Today’s piece, “2021 Braves Spring Training Roster Talk“, will provide the full list of players invited to spring training, both roster and non-roster, and will provide a % going into spring for each of the players on the chance they’ll break camp being one of the lucky 26.

A few assumptions:

  1. Mike Soroka will not break camp with the team due to health concerns.
  2. Braves will carry 8 relievers and a 5 man bench.
  3. Backup catchers such as Logan Brown and Jonathan Morales will not be included on the % chance list as they are merely here to aid in catching all of the spring training bullpens.
  4. Aside from Soroka, this list assumes that everyone else is 100% healthy.

Braves 40-Man Roster and *Non-Roster Invitees

Pitchers

  1. Ian Anderson
  2. Victor Arano
  3. Tucker Davidson
  4. Grant Dayton
  5. Jasseel De La Cruz
  6. Max Fried
  7. Luke Jackson
  8. Chris Martin
  9. A.J. Minter
  10. Tyler Matzek
  11. Charlie Morton
  12. Kyle Muller
  13. Sean Newcomb
  14. Philip Pfeifer
  15. Will Smith
  16. Drew Smyly
  17. Chad Sobotka
  18. Mike Soroka
  19. Josh Tomlin
  20. Touki Toussaint
  21. Jacob Webb
  22. Bryse Wilson
  23. Patrick Weigel
  24. Kyle Wright
  25. Huascar Ynoa
  26. *Thomas Burrows
  27. *Jason Creasy
  28. *Carl Edwards Jr.
  29. *Daysbel Hernandez
  30. *Kurt Hoekstra
  31. *Connor Johnstone
  32. *Nate Jones
  33. *Nolan Kingham
  34. *Freddy Tarnok
  35. *Victor Vodnik
  36. *William Woods

Infielders

  1. Ozzie Albies
  2. Johan Camargo
  3. Freddie Freeman
  4. Jack Mayfield
  5. Austin Riley
  6. Dansby Swanson
  7. *Ehire Adrianza
  8. *Bryce Ball
  9. *C.J. Alexander
  10. *Sean Kazmar
  11. *Jason Kipnis
  12. *Pablo Sandoval
  13. *Braden Shewmake

Outfielders

  1. Ronald Acuna Jr.
  2. Abraham Almonte
  3. Travis Demeritte
  4. Ender Inciarte
  5. Marcell Ozuna
  6. Cristian Pache
  7. *Justin Dean
  8. *Michael Harris II
  9. *Terone Harris (aka “Trey”)
  10. *Drew Waters

Catchers

  1. William Contreras
  2. Travis d’Arnaud
  3. Alex Jackson
  4. *Logan Brown
  5. *Shea Langeliers
  6. *Jonathan Morales

2021 Braves Spring Training Roster Predictions: The Locks

Starting Pitcher: Max Fried, Charlie Morton, Ian Anderson, Drew Smyly (1 spot available)

Relief Pitcher: Will Smith, Chris Martin, Tyler Matzek, Josh Tomlin, A.J. Minter (3 spots available)

Position Players: Freddie Freeman, Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley, Dansby Swanson, Ronald Acuna Jr. Marcell Ozuna, Travis d’Arnaud (6 spots available)

Positions of Need

9, or maybe even 10 spots available…Wow. That’s lot of uncertainty for a team that has hopes of a World Series berth. Here are the needs as I see them:

  • Backup Catcher
  • Utilty Infielder
  • Starting Outfielder
  • Backup Outfielder
  • Bench Bat
  • Bench Bat
  • RH Relief Pitcher
  • RH Relief Pitcher
  • Relief Pitcher
  • Starting Pitcher

Braves Roster Talk: Starting Pitcher Candidates (1 available slot)

Breadown: The battle out the gate is likely between Bryse and Kyle with Bryse having the upper hand due to recency bias. Davidson comes in a distant 3rd, but I think the Braves will let him get some real seasoning at AAA before pulling him back up. Muller and Pfeifer both need time at AAA and Touki and Newk have a much better shot at the bullpen if they’re going to stay in this org. Ynoa’s chances would go up tremendously if any of the first 3 go down with injury.

Braves Roster Talk: Relief Pitcher Candidates (3 available slots)

Breakdown: With 3 lefties set to return and 1 long relief, lefties and long relief candidates take a hit here. And while I’d love for the young-uns listed here to be given a shot out the gate, I think Anthopoulos starts with giving a vet or 2 a shot then moves on quickly should they prove unworthy.

Braves Roster Talk: Catcher Candidates (1 available slot)

Breakdown: I don’t think the Braves are comfortable with giving any of these candidates the backup job on Opening day for differing reasons, but until Tyler Flowers signs a deal, I think this feels right. The Braves don’t have faith in Alex Jackson and it shows, but starting with William Contreras means he never got that full season of development at AAA. This is one that I think changes before Opening Day or maybe in the next day or 2.

Braves Roster Talk: Infield, Outfield, and Bench (6 available slots)

Breakdown: This is sad, but true. It feels like it’s either Camargo or Pablo, either Ehire or Mayfield, either Ender or Dean, either Almonte or Pache, and either Demeritte or Kipnis. I REALLY don’t like including Pache on this list, but he’d have to stay down until May 3rd in order to gain another year of control and I think the Braves might seriously consider that option. My gut tells me there’s more to add before this ends.

Thanks for reading 2021 Braves Spring Training Roster Talk. We’ll be back with Round 2 in a few weeks. If you aren’t aware of some of the players listed, catch up right here.