‘New’ Braves team anxious for spring training

WARNER ROBINS -- David Hale is a little old school.

He’s not likely to be found thumbing his phone to death and posting updates or breathlessly reading those of others. So as the Atlanta Braves engaged in one of their busiest offseasons, Hale was often the last to know.

“I’m one of the rare few that doesn’t have Twitter,” the Atlanta pitcher said Tuesday afternoon before the Braves Country Caravan greeted fans at Academy Sports+Outdoors. “I get my baseball news from my fiancee. She has Twitter.”

That doesn’t mean Hale is unaware that his name has been tossed about the rumor mill.

“I talked to my friends and family, and they always joke if I’m going to be there the next day or not,” said the 27-year-old from Marietta.

Enter his fiancee again.

“She lets me know if people are traded and where I stand on trades and stuff like that,” he said. “She knows that I don’t like hearing the whole trade rumors stuff about me, so she keeps it secret.”

Hale was joined by pitchers Alex Wood and Josh Outman plus outfielder Todd Cunningham on the local stop. It was a return visit to Middle Georgia for Hale and Wood.

Outman has been with the Braves for less than a month, a part of one of the many transactions the past few months that have kept the Braves’ front office, to say nothing of the fan base, busy.

“It’ll be an exciting spring training, a very different one, a lot of new faces,” said Cunningham, who saw the door open in the outfield even more with the trade of Evan Gattis less than a week ago. “They don’t confer with me before they make any trades, so I’m just along for the ride.”

With such turnover on the Braves’ roster, spring training will begin with a rare level of unfamiliarity.

“You deal with it,” Wood said. “I’ve made it this far. We’re getting close to it, and I’m excited to meet all the new guys and get the ball rolling at spring training.”

Of the expanded roster currently on the Braves’ website, the oldest player is newcomer Jason Grilli, who less than two months older than newcomer A.J. Pierzynski, both born in late 1976. They were almost of legal driving age when Wood was born.

“I think someone said the most Braves tenure was (Mike) Minor,” Hale said. “Or I think it was (Craig) Kimbrel.”

Reliever Craig Kimbrel has starter Mike Minor beat by about three months, both joining the team in 2010. Minor just turned 27. B.J. Upton and Chris Johnson are the only returning Braves who have had their 30th birthday.

So in addition to the ability on the field, chemistry and leadership will be watched. Hale said those areas were a little better in 2013 than 2014, thanks to the likes of Brian McCann and Tim Hudson.

“Someone’s going to have to step up and do that because so many guys have changed or been sent away,” Hale said. “Maybe some of the new guys they’re bringing in will step into those roles or some of the older veteran guys.”

Wood thinks all the talk of writing off 2015 is a little premature.

“For anybody who follows baseball, I think you know that funny things have happened. You never really know how a group of guys is going to mesh and come together as a unit,” he said. “That’s the nice thing about baseball. It’s about as true of a team sport as you can have. ... Anything can happen.”

This story was originally published January 20, 2015 at 4:20 PM with the headline "‘New’ Braves team anxious for spring training ."