Braves’ bullpen plans coming into focus with latest spring training roster cut
The 2025 MLB season is a month away and spring training has provided the Atlanta Braves with a brief preview of their roster’s talent. The biggest question marks ahead of the season are who will be the fourth and fifth starters and how will the bullpen look?
There is a lot of pitching depth to evaluate and determine who is most ready to be on the Opening Day roster. The team has already had a few roster cuts with some of their young pitchers. It’s a tight field of pitchers so experience will be something valuable to the organization.
Braves re-assign veteran reliever Wander Suero to minor league camp after less-than-stellar outings
Atlanta announced another spring roster cut on Thursday and RHP Wander Suero was reassigned to minor league camp. This decreased the MLB spring roster to 53 players.
The #Braves today reassigned RHP Wander Suero to minor league camp. Atlanta now has 53 players in camp.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) February 27, 2025
Suero was signed on a minor league deal with the Braves in December and appeared in two innings this spring. It wasn’t pretty as he earned a 9.00 ERA with two runs on four hits.
He looks exactly the same as he did over his last two MLB seasons with the Nationals in 2021 and the Dodgers in 2023. He appeared in one game with the Astros in 2024 and recorded one out. In 2021, he had a 6.33 ERA over 42.2 innings with 15 BB and 44 K. With the Dodgers in 2023, he appeared in eight innings with a 7.88 ERA, including five BB and nine K.
Suero pitched in the Angels minor league system in 2022 and was released during that summer after posting a 6.08 ERA over 23.2 innings. He pitched pretty well with Houston’s Triple-A affiliate last year, posting a 2.66 ERA over 67.2 innings with 33 BB and 71 K.
He found some success but the high amount of walks isn’t encouraging. There must be something the Braves still see in Suero as they didn’t just release him. He’ll clearly have a spot in the minor league system unless things go terribly wrong.
Top Braves position prospect exits spring training game early with wrist injury
Baseball being back is awesome, but sadly we got a bleak reminder yesterday evening that not all news is good news this time of year. Atlanta Braves fans know all to well how much injuries can derail a season, and yesterday Atlanta’s infield depth took a hit.
Top five infield prospect Nacho Alvarez Jr. had to exit yesterday’s game after his first at-bat with what was determined to be discomfort in his left wrist. Nacho displayed that he was in pain after swinging and missing for strike three in his lone at-bat yesterday.
Braves prospect Nacho Alvarez Jr. exits spring game with wrist discomfort
As of now we’ve yet to receive any updates on the severity of the injury, but either way it’s a tough blow for Alvarez who was beginning a very important spring training individually. Last season Alvarez worked all the way up to the Major League squad thanks to his continued success in the upper minor leagues and the opportunity in Atlanta after Ozzie Albies missed time with a wrist injury.
Nacho appeared in eight games for the big league squad last season and picked up three hits in 30 at-bats. Overall, he finished with a .284/.391/.401 slash line across 112 games between Double-A and Triple-A last season.
His stint in Atlanta didn’t last long, but he played well enough last season in Triple-A that many saw him as much needed middle infield depth. Alvarez has always been a high OBP guy with a solid approach at the plate, but a focus on developing his power and ability to pull the baseball more was the next key area of development for Nacho.
Unfortunately, the ability to work on that development has been halted for now. Fans and the Braves staff will keep their fingers crossed for good news on the health of Alvarez Jr. I think after the nightmare injury season the club faced in 2024, we’re all holding our collective breath this season doesn’t replicate the same theme from last season.
