Braves Send Out Two Lineups for Split Squad Matchups With Strider and Dodd On the Mound

On the road, behind LHP Dylan Dodd:  

LF Forrest Wall
CF Jarred Kelenic
1B Marcell Ozuna
C Travis d'Arnaud
2B David Fletcher
DH Phillip Evans
SS Andrew Velazquez
RF Luis Liberato
3B Luke Waddell

This game also starts at 1:05 PM ET, but as typical of the road half of a split squad matchup, there is no coverage from the Atlanta Braves side. The Tampa Bay Rays will have a radio feed available on MLB.com. 

(The away graphic shows the 680 The Fan branding, but MLB.com confirms there is no Braves coverage and no television coverage at all, listing only Rays radio.)

There's some interesting moves here that can impact Atlanta's bench roles in 2024. As they've continued to do, Velazquez is getting the primary run at shortstop in spring with David Fletcher at second base. We've speculated on this before, but trading Fletcher to get out from his $14M in salary commitments for 2024 and 2025 (plus the buyout of his 2026 option) is probably on the forefront of the front office's mind, so seeing if Luis Guillorme (who started at SS yesterday) and Velazquez can both handle shortstop duties if needed can help answer the question of how aggressively do the Braves try to shop Fletcher as injuries start to set into middle infields across the league.  

Additionally, Marcell Ozuna continues to get run as the backup at first base, giving extra flexibility at the major league level with bench construction.