The North Port Report: Bubble Wrap the Braves and Send Them to Atlanta

Here's everything you need to know from Braves Spring Training in North Port, FL from Saturday

Welcome to The North Port Report, your nightly notebook from Braves spring training. Each evening, we’ll run through the biggest developments from camp: roster battles, injury updates, standout performances, and the small details that matter more than they seem in late-March. The games may not count yet, but the information does.

Here’s what stood out today

This team’s ready for Opening Day.

With three-fourths of Atlanta’s starting offense in the game - Eli White was in right, while Josè Azocar took left field and Jonah Heim was the catcher - the Braves tagged Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet for six runs on six hits in five and a third innings, drawing two walks while only striking out three times. Austin Riley homered for the 5th time in spring and doubled twice while also driving in four, while Ozzie Albies doubled and the regular starters had seven hard-hit balls off of the lefthander Crochet.

Chris Sale didn’t struggle nearly as much as Crochet, allowing just one run on two hits across his six innings. After a 2nd inning single, Sale retired the final 15 batters he faced, striking out three of the last four. He topped out at 97.1 on his four-seamer and picked up twelve whiffs with a 35% CSW. In his last start before Opening Day next Friday, he showed that he ready for the start of the season and deserves his top four Cy Young odds.

Tyler Kinley and Dylan Lee both got an inning of work after Sale, combining for one hit and two strikeouts.

Quick Hits

• The plan is to have a separate newsletter coming out for a recap of tonight’s Spring Breakout game, so look for that late this evening.

• The Braves continued with the transactions on Saturday, signing both Dom Smith and Kyle Farmer to split contracts for the 2026 season. This gives them 40-man spots, paving their way to be included on the Opening Day roster, while also allowing Atlanta to send them to the minors (with higher pay) once Sean Murphy, Ha-Seong Kim, et al are back and available.

  • The team also told Martín Pérez that he wasn’t making the Opening Day roster, but as I expected, he declined to exercise his opt-out and he’ll remain with the organization. This paves the way for Didier Fuentes to take a bullpen role on Opening Day, similar to what Spencer Strider did in 2022.

• Reynaldo López takes on Taj Bradley and the Twins Sunday afternoon on the road in Ft. Myers at 1:05 PM ET.

Roster Battle Tracker

Stock UP

Eli White. The greatest MLB player in the state of Tennessee, White led off in place of Acuña and just like Ronald, used his speed to impact the game. He walked in the 2nd inning and scored on an Ozzie Albies line drive to left-center. Having ripped nine hard-hit balls this spring, including seven over 100 mph, he’s showing that he can do more than just provide speed and defense. I wouldn’t be shocked if he got the start in left field on Opening Day, given that the Braves are facing a lefty in Cole Ragans of the Royals.

Stock DOWN

Jonah Heim. Starting in place of Drake Baldwin, he was one of the only hitters in the lineup who couldn’t figure out Garrett Crochet. He finished 0-2 with a walk, putting two balls in play at 58.7 mph and 71.4 mph. Even the walk was a bit ticky tacky, with Crochet losing the zone and throwing five pitches outside of the zone - Heim never took the bat off his shoulder. He also let a runner advance after mishandling a Tyler Kinley slider, although it was ruled a passed ball by the official scorer. He’s still likely to make the Opening Day roster as the backup to Baldwin, but after going 4-24 in spring, he might not get as many opportunities to break into the lineup as we hoped a few weeks ago.

Observation of the Day

This offense looks to be fully bought into the Tim Hyers approach of hitting strikes hard and settling for quality contact versus always swinging for the fences. This is the best Austin Riley has looked since Hyers joined the organization, and I think his ability to flash the power under this approach could allow the offense to hit its ceiling this season.

Tomorrow’s watch list

I feel like we’re still waiting to get the entire Opening Day lineup in there together after Ronald returned from the WBC because of Mike Yastrzemski’s case of pink eye. Is tomorrow the day?

Also, we saw the Braves use Kyle Farmer as the DH against a lefty today; with Taj Bradley on the mound tomorrow, does Dominic Smith get the start?