Brain Snitker sign  a minor league contract, offering $73 Million  to play for the team for 2024 Season…

NORTH PORT, Fla. (AP) – The Atlanta Braves signed veteran right-hander Jesse Chavez to a minor league contract on Monday, providing the opportunity for the reliever’s fifth stint with the team.

Chavez, 40, was released by the Chicago White Sox on Saturday. His deal with Atlanta includes an invitation to spring training, giving the Braves 28 players in camp.

Chavez was first acquired by the Braves on Dec. 11, 2009, in a trade with Tampa Bay for Rafael Soriano before being traded to Kansas City less than one year later. The Braves again obtained Chavez from the Chicago Cubs for reliever Sean Newcomb on April 21, 2022, before sending him to the Angels later that season in a deal that brought closer Raisel Iglesias to Atlanta.

The Braves selected Chavez off waivers later in the 2022 season and signed him again as a free agent before the 2023 season, when he posted a 1.56 ERA with one save in 36 games.

Chavez was released by the White Sox with an 11.57 ERA in seven innings this spring.

The Braves´ eight-man bullpen appeared set before the addition of Chavez only four days before Thursday´s first game of the regular season in Philadelphia.

The Braves released right-hander Penn Murfee on Monday. Murfee had a 1.29 ERA in 16 games with Seattle in 2023 before signing with Atlanta as a free agent. Murfee, 29, had Tommy John surgery in 2023 and was not expected to be available before late this season.

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In a surprising late off-season move, the Atlanta Braves will enter the 2024 regular season with Adam Duvall on their roster. Again. This will be Duvall’s third stint with the Braves organization, and will likely be playing a much different role than he has in the past.

Alex Anthopoulos acquired Jarred Kelenic from the Seatlle Mariners in hopes to fill the vacancy Eddie Rosarion and Kevin Pillar left in the outfield. The initial hope was that Kelenic could be Brian Snitker’s every day starter. However, since Kelenic has struggled so heavily this spring, Adam Duvall was summoned to provide some insurance.

Spring Training is not the time to go into panic mode and Kelenic will still get his fair shot. The Braves organization has already announced that Duvall and Kelenic will platoon in left field in 2024 much like Rosario and Pillar did a season ago. In the unfortuante event that Kelenic is unable to hold up his end of the bargain, the Braves will feel more than comfortable playing Adam Duvall every day.

In 2023 with the Boson Red Sox, Duvall hit .247 with 21 home runs and 58 runs batted in across 92 games. Had it not been for an early season injury, he would have had far more games played and likely higher power numbers.

According to Fangraphs ZiPS DC, Adam Duvall is expected to appear in 65 games for the Atlanta Braves in 2024. Duvall has always been a low average, high power hitter guy and these projections are calling for more of that in 2024. Fangraphs ZiPS DC is predicting a .227 average with 15 home runs and 44 runs batted in for Duvall.

Adam Duvall may be one of the most difficult players in baseball to make predicitions for entering the 2024 regular season. Transitioning back to Atlanta so late in the off-season could present a challenge as he is still yet to make his Spring Training debut, despite being just a week away from Opening Day. Regardless of what his role will be with the Braves, expect Adam Duvall to help Atlanta win baseball games just as he always has.

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The stage is almost set, the Bank will be rocking soon and the Philadelphia Phillies now know who they’ll be up against next Thursday on Opening Day.

The Atlanta Braves on Tuesday named right-handed pitcher Spencer Strider as their Opening Day starter. Strider will make his first career Opening Day start.

Strider will oppose Phillies ace Zack Wheeler when the two teams clash at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday, March 28.

No one struck out more batters, no one had a higher whiff percentage and no one won more games last season than Spencer Strider.

Strider won 20 games with a 3.86 ERA and 281 strikeouts in 186 2/3 innings for Atlanta in 2023, his second season in MLB. His 2.85 Fielding Independent Pitching

(FIP) led National League starters and was second in the majors.

He dominated the Phillies in four regular-season starts in 2023, striking out 38 in 26 innings and winning all four games. He struck out 18 Phillies in two wins at Citizens Bank Park.

In fact, Strider has been a thorn in the Phillies’ side in each of the last two seasons – he’s 8-0 with 72 strikeouts in 47 1/3 innings.

But the script drastically changed once the playoffs rolled around.

Philadelphia has faced Strider twice at the Bank, once in the 2022 National League Division Series and once in 2023’s NLDS.

The Phils tagged Strider for eight runs in two starts, beating him twice.

For the first time since 2017, a starting pitcher not named Aaron Nola will be on the mound for the Phillies on Opening Day.

On St. Patrick’s Day, the Phillies named ace Zack Wheeler their Opening Day starter, ending Nola’s streak of six straight Opening Day starts. It will be Wheeler’s first-ever Opening Day start.

Nola’s six straight Opening Day starts is the third-longest streak in Phillies history, trailing Robin Roberts’ 12 and Steve Carlton’s 10.

Wheeler, who turns 34 in May, signed a historic three-year, $126 million contract extension with the Phillies earlier in March. His extension carries a $42 million annual average value, the highest ever by a Phillie, and the highest AAV ever in a contract extension.

The righty has been one of baseball’s best pitchers since joining the Phillies in 2019.

By Baseball-Reference’s Wins Above Replacement (WAR) metric, he’s been the best starter in baseball – his 19.4 WAR is the highest among starting pitchers since 2020, his first season in Philly.