Braves yearning to bloom in 2017

Saturday afternoon, the Atlanta Braves’ roster sat at 27 players, two more than the regular-season maximum.

Fourteen — a little more than half — of those players haven’t reached their 30th birthday. And plenty of young talent backs the major league roster up in the minors.

That’s something to be expected on a roster that has seen plenty of turnover in recent years as the franchise rebuilt its farm system and parted ways with veterans. After a difficult 2015 season and a turbulent 2016 campaign, it’s almost as if the Braves are looking to get a fresh start.

“It’s a process, and it’s getting there,” said Braves manager Brian Snitker, who takes the field Monday in New York against the Mets in his first opening day as a big league skipper after serving in an interim role for much of last year. “It’s a lot better than what it was. That group that got rings (for Rome’s South Atlantic League championship victory), there are a bunch of them that are going to be in that dugout before you know it. There’s some nice looking players there. We just still have to be patient, grind our way through until they all get here.”

But 2017 isn’t all about the youngsters ... at least not right out of the gate.

The Braves did plenty of free-agent shopping during the offseason, rebuilding a rocky starting rotation and filling some gaps in the lineup.

Some of the players picked up are expected to do more than produce with their bats, gloves and arms. They are expected to play mentorship roles, helping guide the young players making the transition from farm system to big league ball.

The three oldest players on the roster — pitchers Bartolo Colon and R.A. Dickey and second baseman Brandon Phillips — are all offseason pickups. Dickey and Phillips get the chance to play for the team they followed growing up, while Colon, who turns 44 in May, extends his career after going 15-8 for the New York Mets last season.

Players like Colon, Dickey and Phillips, along with Braves mainstay Freddie Freeman and veteran big-leaguer Matt Kemp, are setting the tone in the clubhouse as they move into the team’s new home, SunTrust Park.

“We need to win, that’s important,” Dickey said. “It’s great that we’re opening a new stadium, but if you open up a new stadium and open up 0-for-30, it’s not going to be real fun. So we’ve got to play well.

“We love the new stadium, we love the amenities and all of that, but that’s secondary to getting off to a good start.”

The Braves, who have missed the postseason each of the past three seasons, hit bottom two years ago when they went 67-95. A slow start out of the gate last year cost Fredi Gonzalez his managerial position, giving Snitker, a longtime minor-league manager, the chance to take over the Braves on an interim basis.

The team rallied around Snitker, going on a seven-game winning streak late in the season as part of a 12-2 finish that helped Snitker earn the full-time managerial position.

“It was important to finish like that; that was the way we wanted to finish,” said Braves ace Julio Teheran, who starts his fourth season opener Monday. “We’re really focused on this season coming up. I think we have a really good group. We’re excited. And that’s the way we want to start this season.”

In addition to free-agent moves, coaching changes were made during the offseason, as well. Major league veteran Chuck Hernandez replaced Roger McDowell as pitching coach, and former Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington was brought on as third-base coach in part to help develop the Braves’ younger players.

Spring training brought about mixed results for the Braves. They went 9-22, the worst record in the majors, but the starting rotation was able to get some quality innings in and many of the position situations were settled.

“It’s good that they were getting stretched out,” Snitker said of the starting rotation. “They’ll be right where we want them to be to start the season where they can stay in the game right out of the chute, so that’s good.”

Through Friday’s games, Freeman was tied for fifth in the majors in hits this spring. As a team, however, the Braves were tied for 26th with a .243 batting average and were last in home runs with 19.

Those numbers, however, reset Monday. And if things go according to plan, enough will have rubbed off from the veterans to the younger players that some of that younger talent might break through this year.

“It’s an exciting time for a baseball guy,” Snitker said.

This story was originally published April 1, 2017 at 4:31 PM with the headline "Braves yearning to bloom in 2017."