Tuesday morning was a busy on at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports complex, even with the team playing a road game in Tampa against the Yankees. Many of the regulars stayed back at Champion Stadium to work out, while Ender Inciarte, Dansby Swanson, Ozzie Albies and Tyler Flowers made the trip west on I-4 to the west coast of Florida to face the Bronx Bombers. As has been well documented, the Braves have a number of players dealing with minor injuries, but Tuesday provided a glimpse of things starting to come around for a number of players. Here’s a quick update on where things stand on a number of players Braves fans have been curious about…
Dansby Swanson: After a bout of soreness in his left wrist on Friday, Swanson started Tuesday’s contest and went 1-for-2 with a run scored in two plate appearances. Swanson dealt with wrist pain for the majority of the 2018 season but looked good in his 2019 debut with an opposite field single off JA Happ and a couple smooth defensive plays at short.
Mike Foltynewicz: While it was a bit of a rainy day in Central Florida, Folty was able to go out and throw off flat ground on Tuesday morning. As Alex Anthopoulos told me yesterday, the fact he had two strong innings in his spring debut on Feb 24th, there’s a chance he could get back up to speed rather quickly. Will it be fast enough for him to get the necessary reps before Opening Day is still to be determined.
Kevin Gausman: Another one of the Braves dealing with some soreness in his right shoulder, Gausman threw a live BP session yesterday and Brian Snitker raved about what he saw from his righty. As of now, it looks like we could see Gausman on the mound for the Braves on Friday night when the Braves take on the Phillies at Disney.
Josh Donaldson: I’m including Donaldson in here, even though there’s no injury to speak of. Donaldson stayed back and was scheduled to go through a sim game at the Braves complex on Tuesday morning. But, with the wet weather and chilly conditions, Donaldson’s simulated action was pushed back a day to Wednesday, though he did hit for a while in the indoor batting cages. Again, there’s no injury to speak of, the Braves are just trying to avoid him overdoing things this early in spring. Donaldson said when he arrived a few weeks ago that he thinks 150-155 games played is reasonable for him in 2019. And if he rounds back into form of the guy we saw during his MVP season of 2015, that’ll provide a serious boost to the Atlanta offense in the new year. So, with things being pushed back due to weather, look for Donaldson to also debut on Friday evening back at Disney.
Kevin McAlpin has covered the Braves since 2012 for @680TheFan and the @BravesRadioNet.
