What will the Atlanta Braves rotation look like on opening day?

Up next in our roundtable discussion is our best guess at what the Atlanta Braves’ starting rotation will look like on opening day. As you can see, we are all pretty much in agreement. Let us know what you think in the comments below.

What will the Braves rotation look like on opening day?

Ivan: Teheran, Foltynewicz, Gohara, Newcomb, McCarthy, not necessarily in that order. The team will probably announce a competition for the three non-Teheran/McCarthy spots to get Sims, Fried, Blair, etc. in the mix in Spring Training, and I bet some pitcher will have strong but meaningless Spring Training stats causing folks to clamor for him to begin the season in the rotation, but eh.

Scott Coleman: Some mix of Teheran, Foltynewicz, Gohara, Newcomb and McCarthy. As Ivan said, I think we’ll hear that Fried and Sims have a real shot to win a spot (and I wouldn’t hate seeing one of those two in the bullpen to open the year) but ultimately they go with the five names above.

Sam Meredith: It will be interesting as I believe the Braves will make Sean Newcomb compete for the fifth spot alongside Lucas Sims and Max Fried. 1-4 is all but spoken for with Julio Teheran, Mike Foltynewicz, Luiz Gohara and Brandon McCarthy. I don’t think a spot will be handed to Newcomb until he proves his command has improved and after the outstanding work Max Fried had at the Arizona Fall League all bets are off on who will pitch their way into a starting role.

Brad Rowland: Teheran, Foltynewicz, Gohara, McCarthy and Newcomb. Yes, the Braves could treat Newcomb the way they treated Folty a season ago but, in the end, it would be a stunner if he wasn’t involved unless he is flatly terrible in the spring or there is a trade executed somewhere along the way.

Demetrius Bell: Teheran, Folty, McCarthy, Gohara and Newcomb. I wanted to shake the table and leave Teheran out due to trades, but the more I thought about it the more I convinced myself that a trade probably won’t happen soon. We could definitely see the younger players on the roster making a push in spring training to the point where the 5th spot is definitely up in the air, but I still think that we’ll see a similar rotation to what we saw last year, with the obvious addition of McCarthy.

Kris Willis: If everything remains the same then it will be Teheran, Foltynewicz, Gohara, Newcomb and McCarthy in some order. It feels like Max Fried could make a push but I think the Braves will opt to let him get some time at Triple-A before joining the rotation later in the season.

Dillon Cloud: Teheran, Folty, McCarthy, Gohara, Newcomb. I wanted to pencil Max Fried into the fifth spot, but given that Newcomb has a little more experience and a lot less injury concern, having Fried begin the season in the bullpen makes sense. The chances of at least one member of this rotation being traded between now and August would seem to be very high, but as of early April the rotation should look something like this.