After a weekend in the Florida sun (details to come later), I'm back at it for the remainder of Spring Training. Look for roster breakdowns and analysis in the coming days as the Braves cut down and finally set their Opening Day roster for March 31.
The Braves travel to Port St. Lucie today to play the New York Mets at 1:10.
Braves Lineup:
1. Martin Prado, LF
2. Alex Gonzalez, SS
3. Jason Heyward, RF
4. Dan Uggla, 2B
5. Freddie Freeman, 1B
6. David Ross, C
7. Joe Mather, CF
8. Ed Lucas, 3B
9. Kenshin Kawakami, SP
Mets Lineup:
1. Jose Reyes, SS
2. Angel Pagan, CF
3. David Wright, 3B
4. Lucas Duda, RF
5. Jason Bay, LF
6. Daniel Murphy, 1B
7. Justin Turner, 2B
8. Josh Thole, C
9. Mike Pelfrey, SP
The Braves are employing a revolving door over the last couple weeks of spring camp in order to determine the best candidates for the remaining bench spots. This much is obvious when you see every outfielder in camp getting at bats on a daily basis now, and Mather is getting another look in center field today. Every at bat and ball hit to them is important at this point.
As is the case with Lucas, who is getting another start in the infield today. He is likely fighting for a bench spot and the last couple weeks are key.
Kawakami is getting some more innings today in order to prepare for the start of the season. He is starting in place of Tommy Hanson, who is dealing with back stiffness, but he said he should be fine by Wednesday.