Top Atlanta Braves Players During Spring Training

Here is a highlight of the top performers for the Atlanta Braves during Spring Training

The usual guys emerged as the top contributors for the Braves / Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

Spring Training is down to its final day for the Atlanta Braves. After Tuesday, it’s on to the 162 games that matter. With the Spring essentially in the review mirror, it’s time to highlight some standouts from Grapefruit League play. 

While it’s easy to write off stats from spring, it’s still good to highlight individual performances. Let’s dive in. A top pitcher, hitter, rookie and surprise player will be highlighted.

Top Pitcher: Chris Sale, Starter

He was the Braves' top pitcher in 2024, and he’s still looking that way heading into Opening Day. Sale finished Spring Training with a 2.79 ERA, a 0.88 WHIP and a .176 opponent’s average across 19 1/3 innings pitched. 

It’s been highlighted on Atlanta Braves on SI before that Sale is a case where his Spring Training performance arguably matters. He looks healthy and had no signs of any setbacks after his comeback year. 

Nobody looked more tuned up than the eight-time All-Star. He has to keep it up in the regular season, but so far, so good. 

Top Hitter: Marcell Ozuna, Designated Hitter

If Spring Training is allowed to indicate anything, the power is back after an outage at the end of last season. Ozuna has a .595 slugging in 47 plate appearances in Spring Training. 

Six of his 11 hits were for extra bases. Only Austin Riley matched that among Opening Day roster players. 

Ozuna was the most reliable hitter last season and should continue to be one in 2025. A key difference should be that the rest of the lineup is back in order. 

Top Rookie: Drake Baldwin, Catcher

This was one of the easiest picks for this list. The top prospect came to North Port and played like one. While there wasn’t much pop, Baldwin was a solid contact bat that had little trouble getting on base this spring (.286 average and .400 on-base percentage). He struck out just four times in 50 plate appearances (8%). 

After Sean Murphy got hurt, he slid into the starting catcher spot. Pitchers were just fine with him behind the dish. 

He rightfully earned a spot on the opening day, and fans should be excited to see him in action. 

Surprise Player: Nick Allen, Shortstop 

Allen was one of those depth acquisitions from over the offseason. In Spring Training, he played like he could be the new starting shortstop. The former Oakland A’s prospect is batting .391 and has a .900 OPS in 40 Grapefruit League plate appearances. 

For now, Orlando Arcia gets the benefit of the doubt. However, the staunch difference in performance at the plate didn’t go unnoticed. If Arcia bounces back, then cool, Allen provides quality depth. But if he doesn’t, then it wouldn’t hurt for manager Brian Snitker to circle back to these stats. 

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