Braves have strong split-squad outing, as Austin Riley homers

We were treated to a split-squad day on Sunday, with Reynaldo Lopez starting at home against the Rays, backed by most of the regular bats remaining in camp after a few WBC departures and Grant Holmes starting on the road at the Twins’ facility, backed by mostly quad-A players and a few prospects.

At home, Reynaldo Lopez sat around 92 MPH with his fastball, a few ticks down from his 95.5 and 95.7 MPH averages in 2024 and 2025. He allowed a few hard-hit balls, but struck out three and walked one through three innings. He generated 6 whiffs and kept Tampa scoreless in what was overall a nice outing for Reynaldo, even if the velo remained down in the lower 90s. Tyler Kinley followed Reynaldo and allowed a solo homer but got a strikeout and three whiffs in his one inning. Dylan Lee followed with a 1-2-3 inning of contact outs and 3 whiffs. Bullpen candidate Dylan Dodd got the sixth and immediately allowed two monster homers, hurting his chances of making the Opening Day roster over a guy like James Karinchak. Dodd ended up with 2.0 innings of work, allowing two homers, two singles, and two strikeouts.

The offense was pretty quiet to start the game, but scored one on an error after a Yastrzemski walk and two on a 111 MPH Michael Harris single. Austin Riley crushed a homer in the sixth, for his second ball hit over 106 MPH of the day, a promising sign. Toolsy prospect Diego Tornes made an appearance in the seventh inning, pinch-hitting for Michael Harris and worked a nice walk, still at only 17 years old.

On the road, Holmes gave up some hard contact, but struck out two and walked one through 2.2 innings of scoreless ball, sitting around 93-94 with his fastball. Garrett Baumann started the fourth inning and struck out the side on only one whiff, going on to collect another strikeout but only 3 whiffs total on 2+ innings of work, as he got unlucky on some soft contact to start his third inning. Hayden Harris continued his strong spring with three strikeouts and one walk in his 1.0 inning outing.

On offense, John Gil struck out and walked once each before scorching a 109.7 MPH line drive homer in the eighth inning, as he continues to have a really strong spring showing. Jorge Mateo struck out twice and had a sharp groundout in his three plate appearances.

Overall, it was a very promising split-squad day for most of the major league regulars and key prospects. John Gil has the looks of a guy who could break out and be a top 100 prospect this year, Grant Holmes and Reynaldo Lopez looked generally effective, although with diminished velocity, and Austin Riley and Michael Harris made hard contact. Dylan Dodd’s rough outing was a rough moment for him, as he seems more likely to be optioned rather than make the Opening Day roster, but there is time yet for him.

We’ll be back tomorrow as the Braves host the Twins and the WBC gets underway.