ATLANTA – Pablo Sandoval made the Atlanta Braves Opening Day lineup.
The team made a flurry of moves on Saturday to complete its list of 26 players, which included the selection of the 34-year-old Sandoval contract, who was not invited to join the list this spring.
The 2012 All-Star and MVP of the 2012 World Series is trying to revive his career in a bank role with the Braves. The hitter won his place with a strong spring, reaching 0.429 with four RBI in 35 strokes.
Braves, who open the season on Thursday in Philadelphia, also selected the contracts for two other unsigned players: infielder Ehire Adrianza and appeaser Nate Jones.
Infielder Jason Kipnis, an All-Star twice trying to make Braves an unescaled guest, was released.
In addition, the team took outside defender Abraham Almonte to the alternate training site, assigned outside defender Phillip Ervin to the designation, and placed pitcher Touki Toussaint on the 60-day injured list with a sprained right shoulder.
Sandoval, whose contract will be updated for one year, $ 1 million, hit 0.214 out of 84 hits with the Braves and the San Francisco Giants in 2020. He was added to the Atlanta postseason list, being unsuccessful in four plate appearances how Braves came to a game of reaching the World Series.
The Braves hope Sandoval can return to the form he showed in 2019, when he hit 0.268 with 14 homers for the Giants.
Adrianza won another opening on the Atlanta bench by hitting 0.412 in spring training, with two home runs and a 12-point RBI until Friday’s game.
The versatile 31-year-old Venezuelan, who has played with San Francisco and Minnesota, will mainly provide shortstop depth behind Dansby Swanson. Adrianza also played in the other positions of the internal field, as well as in the external field during his career.
Jones is another unescaled player who impressed the Braves this spring. The 35-year-old right-hander allowed only one run in seven appearances, covering 7 1-3 entries, yielding three strokes with a walk.
Jones played eight seasons with the Chicago White Sox before moving last season to Cincinnati, where he scored 0-1 with an ERA of 6.27 in 21 matches.
The Braves will start with just four starters on their pitching team, after choosing Bryse Wilson at the alternative training site for what is expected to be a two-week stay.
Braves will not use a fifth starter on its first pass through rotation. Wilson will likely make his first start on April 13, after defeating Kyle Wright for fifth place as a starter.
Mike Soroka will start the season on the injured list as he continues his recovery from an Achilles tendon injury.