VENICE, Fla. – Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker held court in front of a “2021 World Champions” banner, peaking occasionally at the nearby bullpen, where veteran pitcher Charlie Morton threw a side session. Around the corner, outfielders Ronald Acuña Jr. and Cristian Pache pulled up in matching glitzy-gold SUVs and posed for a photo.
Tyler Matzek, a bullpen star last fall as the Braves won their first World Series title since 1995, described the scene: “It’s like the first day of school.”
With one notable absence: veteran first baseman Freddie Freeman, the five-time All-Star and 2020 National League MVP who has spent his entire professional baseball career with the Braves but is now a free agent.
Big leaguers filed into camps across Arizona and Florida on Sunday for the first official day of spring training, three days after a 99-day lockout ended with Major League Baseball and the players agreeing on a new collective bargaining agreement. With games in the Cactus League and Grapefruit League ahead this week, fans rejoiced over sights familiar and new: Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander returning from injury, All-Star infielder Marcus Semien fielding grounders in Texas Rangers’ red and blue.
It’s been more than a decade since Freeman wasn’t in Atlanta’s camp, but he remains unsigned, with some media reports indicating he’s being courted by the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees – not known for being stingy with their spending.
Snitker said he texted Freeman shortly after the firewall preventing management from communicating with players dropped at the end of the lockout Thursday. He’s unsure what Freeman will do and didn’t ask. He just wanted to speak to an old friend.
“I hadn’t talked to him since we left the parade,” Snitker said of the championship celebration in early November. “I just said, ‘Man, I can talk to you now.’
“I was just asking how family was. There was nothing professional or business or anything. Just checking in on him. Let’s face it, he’s going to be a good friend the rest of my life, regardless of professionally what happens.”
The Braves are coming out of the work stoppage with more uncertainty than most teams. Acuña has been rehabbing from a torn ACL that happened just before the All-Star break, Morton is back on the mound after breaking his leg in the World Series opener and pitcher Mike Soroka is progressing after retearing his right Achilles’ tendon last summer.
“I’m ready,” Acuña said on his way into the clubhouse
Not quite, but the Braves are pleased with his progress. The 2018 NL rookie of the year hasn’t played since last July and missed Atlanta’s October run.
Acuña has said he’s eyeing a return to game action in May. The Braves haven’t announced a timeline yet, but Snitker is encouraged by what he has heard and excited to see Acuña in action when workouts begin Monday.
“I know the reports are really good,” Snitker said. “I mean really good. I guess that he’s worked his rear off.”
AP photo by Steve Helber / Atlanta Braves pitcher Charlie Morton throws during a bullpen session Sunday at CoolToday Park in North Port, Fla. Morton broke his leg in Game 1 of last year’s World Series, but the Braves overcame the injury to win the championship by beating the Houston Astros in six games.Morton had a plate and several screws surgically placed in his leg after being hit by a 102 mph comebacker in Game 1 of the World Series – he threw 16 more pitches after that, saying Sunday “it wasn’t until the bone actually separated, like I actually felt separation of the bone, that’s when I was like, all right.”
The 38-year-old has resumed throwing and isn’t far off track from his normal spring regimen, although he wanted to gauge his progress a little more before committing to being ready for opening day on April 7.
Soroka, an All-Star in 2019 who was expected to be at the top of Atlanta’s rotation for years to come, hasn’t pitched since early in 2020 after tearing his Achilles’ tendon for the first time. He tore it again last year during the rehab process. Snitker said the 24-year-old right-hander is progressing well and that doctors are encouraged by his recovery.
“I know he’s excited about getting back down here and starting this thing up again,” Snitker said. “But I know a year ago today, he probably was, too.”
The Braves overcame all of that adversity last year, reaching the postseason by winning their fourth straight NL East Division title and taking down a trio of teams with more regular-season wins by beating the Milwaukee Brewers in an NL Division Series, the Dodgers in the NL Championship Series and the Astros in a World Series that ended with a Game 6 rout in Houston.
At the time the Astros didn’t have Verlander, who hasn’t pitched since making one appearance in July 2020.
Verlander, Astros manager Dusty Baker and general manager James Click said they haven’t established a spring or regular-season workload expectation for the right-hander, but the pitcher said he felt great after his first bullpen session at spring training.
The 39-year-old threw some 40 pitches in two simulated innings on the first day of Houston’s camp, a positive sign for the two-time Cy Young Award winner in his return from Tommy John surgery.
Said Verlander: “I’m on cloud nine.”