Braves add Tomlin and Alonso to 40-man roster
The Braves announced today that non-roster players Josh Tomlin and Yonder Alonso are being added to the MLB roster.
There was never any doubt Tomlin would make the roster. He was great last season for the Braves in a long relief role, which is something he could again do this year in a shortened season.
Last season, Tomlin pitched in 51 games, with one start, and had a 3.74 earned run average with 82 hits allowed in 79.1 innings, only seven walks and 51 strikeouts.
Alonso was a strange addition to the players invited to spring training as non-roster players, but with Freddie Freeman missing two weeks with COVID-19, Alonso is someone who could find himself on the roster.
After Freeman, Alonso has the most MLB experience at first base, with 879 games played there and 809 starts.
Last season, Alonso played with the White Sox and Rockies. He hit just .199 with 10 home runs and 37 RBI. Two years ago with the Indians, Alonso hit 23 home runs with 83 runs batted in and a .250 batting average.
Alonso could make the 30-man roster to start the season as insurance, as the Braves will likely see how Freeman does early on. They may not push Freeman, so Alonso could be the additional option for first base.
Here is part of our interview with Tomlin from Spring Training. Here is the entire audio interview with Tomlin.
Listen to The Bill Shanks Show weekdays at 3:00 p.m. ET on Middle Georgia’s ESPN. You can listen online at TheSuperStations.com. Follow Bill on Twitter at @billshanks and you can email him at thebillshanksshow@yahoo.com.