The Atlanta Braves are taking on the Pittsburgh Pirates in Bradenton, FL as Spring Training is coming to a close. Originally Spencer Strider was supposed to be getting his final tune up, but we got the unfortunate news that he will be starting the season on the IL with an oblique strain.
With Strider being scratched, Didier Fuentes will get the start to continue one of the best Spring Trainings of all-time. Over his three appearances he has pitched 9.0 innings with seventeen strikeouts and his only baserunner has been a HBP. If all nine innings were pitched in the same game that would be one HBP away from a perfect game.
The lineup today looks like a variation of one we may see in the regular season against a RHP SP if Baldwin gets the day off.
One player of note that is not in the lineup is Dominic Smith. He seems to be on track to making the roster as a platoon option against RHP, but with bringing in Rowdy Tellez to a minors deal, some questioned if that meant that Smith may be the odd man out. Odds seem to lean that it is not the case that Smith lost his chance to crack the Opening Day roster, but it is interesting to not see him today.
The Braves will face off against Carson Fulmer who has only pitched 4.0 innings this spring. In those 4.0 innings Fulmer has yet to allow a base runner. Both appearances were in save situations, not that it maters much in spring.
The Pirates are bringing a lineup that could very well be one that their fans will get to see many times throughout the regular season. In the heart of the order we see old friend Marcell Ozuna hitting cleanup. Offseason acquisition Ryan O’Hearn, who only made twenty-one appearances in RF last season, seems to have found his regular position this year and will stay in the outfield today.
Radio: ESPN 103.7/WIFN 1340
