LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – When the Braves open the Grapefruit League season Saturday against the Toronto Blue Jays, their lineup won’t be half-filled with bench players or roster hopefuls. Manager Brian Snitker plans to run out a lineup fit for a regular-season opener.
When asked Friday how many lineup regulars he would start in the first spring-training game, Snitker said, “All of them. They all want to play. I didn’t expect anything other. Everybody feels good, everybody’s been working out — they want to play. I’m going to play them all, give them a couple of at-bats.”
Snitker, entering his first spring training as a major league manager, said he would play some of his regular starters in the first two Grapefruit League games, both at home. The Braves host the Houston Astros on Sunday.
Bartolo Colon will start the Braves opener Saturday and Julio Teheran will start Sunday. Each is scheduled to work two innings, and Snitker didn’t announce his planned relievers for either game.
Expect to see first baseman Freddie Freeman and center fielder Ender Inciarte play more than other Braves in the first part of spring training. Both will play in the World Baseball Classic in March — Freeman for Canada and Inciarte for Venezuela — and Snitker wants to make sure they get plenty of work before reporting to WBC training camps March 6.
“We sat with Freddie and Ender,” Snitker said. “I wanted to make sure to have a plan for them, because as soon as they leave (for the WBC) they’re going to play real games. They’re going to be asked to play nine innings all of a sudden (by their WBC teams), so we’ve sat down and mapped out a strategy for those two guys before they leave.
“I don’t think Ender needs to play nine innings, but he probably needs to play seven innings at some point (before they leave for WBC). Because they’re going to have, like, one (WBC) workout, exhibition games and play. I think Freddie said they (Canada’s team) work out one day, play two exhibition games and then it starts. He said, ‘I want to play, get sore and work through that before I go there.’”
Snitker added that Inciarte ramped up his workout schedule this year prior to spring training and had already been doing base running and other drills before the Braves began workouts.
“I wanted to have a plan for those (two) guys,” Snitker said. “There’s plenty of time for the others (in spring training games). When those guys leave (for the WBC) there will be opportunities to get more guys in, get a look at some guys at different positions.”
