If first impressions are any indication, the Atlanta Braves and their fan base should be quite happy with what Mike Yastrzemski has in store for the upcoming season. One of the newest signings for the Braves made his presence felt almost immediately during the Grapefruit League opener. He kept that going and had a pretty good day at the plate as the Braves cruised to a win over the Rays.
When I say Yaz made his presence felt immediately, I mean it: he hit second for the Braves in this one and he took the first pitch he saw from Rays pitcher TJ Nichols and crushed it deep to center field to give the Braves an early lead in this one. Nichols left one right in Yaz’s wheelhouse and he made no mistake in cracking his first home run (of spring training) with the Braves.
Yastrzemski wasn’t done there either. He hit a hard single off Kodi Whitley in the third inning and then ended his day by walking Joe Rock. Once he reached base, Kevin Kilpatrick replaced him at first and that was the end of his day. Sure, it was the very first day of spring training, but I’d say reaching base three times, one of which was a homer, while also playing solid defense in the field, is a nice start to spring training. We’ll see a lot more where that comes from from now on, especially in the regular season.
Mike Yastrzemski wasn’t the only player who hit the ground running. Journeyman outfielder Ben Gamel also made his presence felt in this game, as he hit a homerun to open the second inning. Gamel golfed one low and into Andrew Wantz’s zone and sent it far outside for a dinger that extended Atlanta’s fast start in this one.
Gamel wasn’t done yet as he added two more RBIs on a looping double to left-center. Mike Yastrzemski also scored during the game, so those two players were really everywhere in this game (in a good way). The Braves led 5-0 after three innings in this one – Mike Yastrzemski and Ben Gamel were responsible for four of the runs scored (two each) as well as four of the RBI (three for Gamel and one for Yaz). Once again, talk about a good start!
On the other hand, Atlanta’s pitching staff did their part to make sure the Rays stayed quiet for the vast majority of this game. Carlos Carrasco got things going with three strikeouts and three hits in two innings of work. Carrasco won’t win any speed contests, as he reached a top speed of about 90 miles per hour on the radar gun during Saturday’s action, but it was still fun to see him leave the team with little to no issues in both innings.
Dylan Dodd took over in the third inning and pitched a scoreless frame, giving up only a single and striking out a batter. Dodd’s speed was certainly faster, as his sinker regularly hit 96 mph on the gun in this one. That’s certainly encouraging if he can keep that up going forward, considering his sinker was at 93 miles per hour last season.
Hayden Harris got the ball for the fourth inning and even though he was put in a situation with two men on and no one out, Harris did a great job of escaping the jam, getting an infield fly and two strikeouts to nip Tampa Bay’s scoring threat right in the bud.
Offseason James Karinchak took over the pitching duties in the fifth inning and recorded two strikeouts of his own with only one hit allowed to keep the ball rolling for the Braves and keep the Rays off the scoreboard. In fact, the Rays didn’t score until the sixth inning when Logan Davidson homered off Elieser Hernández and the Braves didn’t give up a walk until Austin Pope threw the first free pass of the day until the eighth inning. Atlanta’s pitchers recorded 12 strikeouts in this game. Suffice it to say, this was a very solid performance from the pitching staff in this game.
It was a very solid performance for the Braves as they started their Grapefruit League campaign on a winning note. The excitement should spill over into Sunday’s outing as Chris Sale has been confirmed as the starter for the home opener at CoolToday Park against the Twins. For now, Mike Yastrzemski and Ben Gamel should both be pretty pleased with their efforts today as they make the short trip back to Braves camp in North Port from the Rays facility in Port Charlotte.
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