Orlando Arcia exits injured, roster candidates largely look good in spring split-squad Sunday

In North Port, the Braves faced Brayan Bello and the Red Sox with Reynaldo Lopez on the mound and most of their regulars in the lineup. Meanwhile, elsewhere in Florida, Atlanta faced a Baltimore squad with Spencer Strider starting and a few regulars over there as well.

In North Port, Reynaldo gave up solo homers in the second and fourth innings. This is something to keep an eye on, as he has given up homers at a pretty high rate in his small spring sample. On the more optimistic side for Lopez, his velocity sat in the mid-90s, after a slight dip last outing. Overall, Reynaldo was largely effective in his outing, with the two homers aside, pitching an efficient 5.0 innings of 2 run ball with 4 Ks and 1 BB. Aaron Bummer was first out of the pen and allowed a walk and a hit for a run in his first inning, but that was it. He got a second inning, issued a leadoff walk, and struck a man out before giving way to Joe Jimenez, who struck out two. Tyler Matzek got the eighth and struck out the side, sitting low 90s.

On the offensive side in North Port, Ronald Acuna drew a leadoff walk and put together a pretty good plate appearance that nonetheless ended in a strikeout for Bello, who was pitching well. Albies led off the fourth with a double and came around to score with a Michael Harris single and a Matt Olson ground ball double play. Ronald made a really nice sliding catch to end the sixth, encouraging for his health status. Ronald hit a single in the sixth and another Ozzie double brought his pinch-runner in to score, as the regulars began to be subbed out. A wild pitch tied the game and Jarred Kelenic struck out on a dubious checked swing call to end the inning and continue Jarred’s spring misery. Orlando Arcia was hit by a 96 MPH fastball in the hand/wrist and exited the game in the sixth. the AJC’s Justin Toscano reports that Orlando’s x-rays were negative according to Snitker.

The Braves ended up tying Boston 3-3.

Facing the Orioles, Austin Riley hit a first inning homer. Strider generally cruised, despite walking three. Spencer’s final line was 4.2 innings pitched, 2 H, 3 BB, 7 K, which is a good outing, despite the walks (he was pulled for the last out of the fourth inning, but re-entered for the fifth). Dylan Lee got the sixth and encouragingly struck out the side, in what has not been the greatest spring for Lee. The Braves’ backups worked a small-ball run in the seventh to double their lead. Lee got the seventh as well and struck out the first batter, before allowing a single and a homer to tie the game at 2, but battled back with a lineout and strikeout to hold the score. Hayden Harris allowed back to back doubles to Jackson Holliday and Gunnar Henderson to give up the lead to Baltimore in the eighth. Another walk and a double stretched the Orioles’ lead to 5-2. Charlie Culberson, the now full-time pitcher replaced Harris and immediately allowed a two-run homer, a walk, and an RBI double before getting a merciful flyout to end the inning with an 8-2 score. The Braves’ farmhands went down quietly in the top of the ninth, to end the game.

Join us tomorrow as the Braves face the Rays in another spring matchup at 1:05 PM ET.