3 Atlanta Braves players who won’t be on the roster by May 1
By Mark Powell
The Atlanta Braves started their season with a series win over the Washington Nationals. However, roster changes are looming.
MLB season has officially begun, and the Braves picked up right where they left off, defeating the Washington Nationals in a three-game set. In that sense, not much has changed for the defending division champs.
Atlanta is favored to win the East again this season, an accomplishment they’ve grown quite familiar with. Still, the Braves have dealt with several injuries to start the season. Eventually, those players will come back, and Brian Snitker’s group will be a fully-loaded machine with possible trade deadline upgrades on the way — but we’re awhile away from that being the case.
As intriguing as some of these spring training storylines are, most won’t be relevant by the time May 1 rolls around.
Braves rumors: Nick Anderson isn’t long for the bigs
Atlanta has too many pitchers coming off the injured list in the next month for Anderson to survive a roster crunch of sorts. Raisel Iglesias is on the 15-day IL, and could come off in the next few weeks if all goes well for the Braves. Iglesias was a closer candidate before the season began, and Atlanta’s big-name trade deadline acquisition last summer.
In Iglesias’s absence, A.J. Minter and Joe Jimenez are expected to take on the closer role. Snitker called Iglesias’s injury a “low-grade” shoulder strain, and stressed that while he was starting the season on the IL, he should be back sooner rather than later.
“To get him right, we shut him down, will build him back and hopefully can get him sooner than later,” Snitker said, per the AJC. “There’s inflammation in there. Everything structurally is good. Hopefully we can get ahead of it.”
Anderson is a tremendous comeback story, and hadn’t pitched in the majors since 2021. It’d be wonderful if he proves himself in such a short period of time, but odds are the Braves need roster space.