The Braves have three extremely tough choices to make before spring training ends.
Before the 2024 season begins, there are a few issues that the Braves must resolve.
Who will start for the Braves as their fifth player?
The Braves’ main spring roster decision pertaining to the big leagues is this one. The Braves’ starting rotation now has Max Fried, Spencer Strider, Chris Sale, and Charlie Morton locked up for the first four positions, while the fifth spot is very much up in the air.
Right now, Bryce Elder and Reynaldo Lopez are the front-runners for the fifth position in the rotation. Although there is reason for some trepidation regarding Lopez’s potential to return to the starting lineup, some beat writers have already projected that Lopez will start the season as the starter due to Elder’s severe decline in the second half and the fact that he still has minor league options, which allows the team to call him up if and when it becomes necessary.
The elephant in the room here is 2023 first round pick Hurston Waldrep who blasted his way through the minor leagues during his first pro season. Putting him in the rotation right out of spring training would be extremely aggressive even for the Braves, but he also has the highest ceiling of any of the Braves options for their 2024 rotation. With a strong camp where he shows he can command his impressive stuff consistently, don’t be surprised if the Braves think long and hard about going with his upside.
Due to the fact that his last few years in Atlanta saw him have to get kinda lucky to not get teed off on, Braves fans forget just how good Julio Teheran was with the Braves. He was the staff ace during the Braves’ rebuild and made a pair of All-Star teams along the way. Julio has struggled to hang around the big leagues in recent years as he has bounced around the league, but he put together a nice little bounce back season with the Brewers in 2023. At 32 years old with a lot of miles on that arm of his, he is still looking for a team to take a chance on him at least one more time for next season.
