Y’all. Today marks exactly two weeks until real, live, regular-season Braves baseball begins.
Which is almost as exciting as the opportunity to click on this quick survey and weigh in on the future of AJC sports newsletters. Consider it a personal favor … that may just benefit you as well.
Once you’re done, we’ll check in with Chad down in North Port. Please and thank you.
BATTLE ON THE BASEPATHS
Credit: Gerald Herbert/AP
Credit: Gerald Herbert/AP
By Chad Bishop, Braves beat reporter
Braves manager Walt Weiss put on his football coaching visor this week.
“For me, base running is like special teams in football. Doesn’t get a lot of the glory, but a lot of times it comes down to that if you win or lose a game,” he said.
Weiss’ passion for base running (especially good base running) is apparent the more and more he speaks about it. It’s part of the reason why he hired Antoan Richardson to be his first base coach.
Base running isn’t confined to base stealing, either. Weiss detailed how he can tell a lot about a player by the way he runs the bases, how much he cares about it and how much effort is put toward that part of his game. There are analytics to track it all, of course, but body language even plays a part.
Does this equate to the Braves becoming league leaders in stolen bases, or suddenly deploying hit-and-runs left and right? Probably not. But going first to third on a single, or maybe taking a chance to score on a shallow sac fly, will be more prevalent.
“In the past, it just hasn’t been a focal point. Because we were built on hitting homers, and that’s what we did, and we were good at it, and we won a world championship doing it,” Weiss said. “Just think last year was — it was a bit of an eye-opener for all of us. And on those nights you’re not hitting the ball in the seats, you got to be able to create something. You got to be able to manufacture something. You gotta have different ways to score.”
The Braves only stole 82 bases in 2025, the fifth-fewest in MLB. They already had 19 in 18 spring training games (before Thursday’s action).
📲 Appreciate you, Chad. Y’all make sure to follow him on X … and keep tabs on more live updates from spring training here.
LIVING THE STREAM
The Braves finally dropped info about Braves.TV, their new standalone streaming option for this season’s games.
The team still plans to have options within existing cable/satellite/streaming providers, which (we think?) will just appear as a new channel. But if your cords are fully cut — and you can stomach the $99.99 — Braves.TV may be the option for you.
That said: It’s understandable if you’re a tad confused. So for reader Kerry from Brookhaven (hi, Kerry!) and everyone else, I figured we could walk through how to get things set up on a smart TV.
It’s not as intense as it looks.
1️⃣ Go to the “search” function on the home screen of your TV. But searching for the Braves likely won’t produce what you’re looking for — which is the MLB app. Search for “MLB.”
2️⃣ Download the MLB app (it’s free) and then open it. It’ll probably ask you to select your favorite team, so do that and then hit “next.”
3️⃣ Next you should get a page that offers three options: “create free account,” “browse subscriptions” and “explore free content.” You’ll have to create an account eventually, but for now go to “browse subscriptions.”
4️⃣ The next screen should look like this. If you just want the Braves package, go to the first option on the left that says “Braves.TV” and lists a price of $99.99. Click “buy now.”
5️⃣ From there you’ll enter payment and all that. May be a little different on different TVs, but once it’s settled you should be able to watch games via the MLB app (which you can also download and sign into on phones and tablets and such).
Make sense? Any more questions? Give us a shout via the official Braves Report mailbag.
SPEAKING OF THE MAILBAG …
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Oh yeah, time to make Chad answer some questions, baby.
📬 From Scott in Jackson, Tennessee: I wish JR Ritchie would be given a chance to make the rotation. What do you think?
Chad’s response: Hi, Scott! We’ve written a lot about Ritchie here, here and here. The guy is going to be a good one. I would not expect, however, for Ritchie to be part of the rotation when the season begins. Part of the reason for that is his youth and being eligible to be sent down to Triple-A to continue to get consistent work against MiLB lineups.
Meanwhile, the Braves will probably turn to Carlos Carrasco or Martín Pérez (not Joey Wentz) to begin the season as a sixth starter. The team has 13 games in 13 days and will need someone to eat innings in one or (or two) of those games.
📬 From Rick in Marietta: Projections I’ve seen about the Braves’ opening day roster seem to all include (Joel) Payamps in the bullpen. Why hasn’t he pitched in spring training; is anything wrong with him?
Chad’s response: Payamps pitched March 8 against the Rays in Port Charlotte. He threw one scoreless inning and walked one, and 14 of his 18 pitches were strikes. The Braves signed Payamps to a one-year deal for $2.25 million this offseason, so it would make sense they expect him to be in the bullpen rotation.
📬 From Jason in Orange City, Florida: Is the ownership group for the Braves ever going to approach baseball as a sport and not a business? Why not pick up (free agent pitcher) Lucas Giolito? I’m sure Chris Sale could help him. Just ridiculous signing all of these retreads off the trash heap.
Chad’s response: I feel your frustration, Jason. The Braves are getting a sudden payroll bump thanks to Jurickson Profar’s poor decision making, and will be counting even more money with the launch of BravesVision. Add that to the fact that Spencer Schwellenbach, Hurston Waldrep and Joey Wentz are all already hurt, and there doesn’t seem to be much excuse for not going out and adding another quality arm.
Roster management factors into this equation though. Adding a high-profile arm would require bumping, say, Bryce Elder or Reynaldo López out of the mix and possibly out of the organization. The Braves say they believe in what they have — not saying we all have to agree, but that’s the club’s stance.
We’ll press Alex Anthopoulos on this issue the next time we see him, of course, so stay tuned.
QUICK, SOME OTHER NEWS!
🥳 The Braves just announced a free Truist Park “open house” from 1 to 4 p.m. on March 22. You can run the bases, peep the dugout, hang out with Blooper and more. Consider it a sort of Braves Fest Lite, the full version of which got nixed by weather in January.
- Again, it’s free (including some parking). But signing up for tickets is a must.
🇺🇸 The U.S. (and our ex-Brave buddy Mark DeRosa) needed a little help, but they advanced to the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals. They play Canada at 8 p.m. Friday on Fox.
- Ronald Acuña Jr. and team Venezuela remain in the mix as well, taking on the Japanese juggernaut at 9 p.m. Saturday.
🥲 Ozzie Albies and the Netherlands crew didn’t advance past WBC pool play. But the Braves second baseman enjoyed his experience — particularly that walk-off homer.
💪 Spencer Strider continues ramping things up and says “everything’s trending in a really good direction.” He spent Wednesday’s Grapefruit League start working on the breaking stuff. Other pitching updates:
- Five no-hit innings with nine strikeouts for Grant Holmes seems pretty good.
- Reliever Hayden Harris is headed to minor league camp after posting a 1.80 ERA in five appearances.
- Youngster Didier Fuentes finally saw his first spring training action.
👏 Former Braves pitcher Julio Teheran — he of six consecutive opening day starts — announced his retirement. Round of applause for the 35-year-old, please.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Credit: Marta Lavandier/AP
Credit: Marta Lavandier/AP
Not long until we get to see similar scenes involving Braves jerseys, gang.
Thanks for reading Braves Report. Tell a friend — and maybe give the Win Column newsletter a shot, too.
Until next time.
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