The Atlanta Braves have set their opening day roster and there are some surprises in the final roster battles. As predicted earlier today, Yohan Flande will get the final bullpen spot over Cory Gearrin. Randall Delgado will be the fifth starter over Julio Teheran, and Tyler Pastornicky wins the opening day shortstop job over Andrelton Simmons.
Then there is that last bench spot. Did it go to the super utility guy Drew Sutton? No.
Did it go to the best all around bat, Jordan Parraz? No.
Did it go to the speedster Luis Durango who led the team with a .467 average this spring? No.
The final bench spot goes to Georgie, Jose Constanza. He hit .175 this spring with one walk in 41 plate appearances. Say whaaaat? SAY WHAAAT!!!
Look, I know it's only the last spot on the bench, but c'mon. Durango was sooo much better than Constanza, who showed absolutely nothing this spring. Close to the absolutely nothing he showed in the final month of the 2011 season when he hit ... wait for it ... .174. He was the same bad hitter this spring (.175) that he was last September (.174) ... and the Braves don't seem to care. #Frustrating
The Braves will be able to keep their Rule 5 pick for now, as Robert Fish was placed on the disabled list to start the season. As was Anthony Varvaro.