Pitching injuries are already mounting for the Braves, though they aren’t in a rush to sign Dallas Keuchel or Craig Kimbrel

It is only March 1, and Opening Day is still three weeks and six days away, but already the injuries are beginning to pile up for the Atlanta Braves. Friday afternoon lefty reliever A.J. Minter exited his scheduled Grapefruit League appearance with shoulder tightness after facing only one batter. He’s heading for further evaluations.

Minter joins presumed Opening Day starter Mike Foltynewicz, righties Mike Soroka and Kevin Gausman, lefty Luiz Gohara, and shortstop Dansby Swanson in the infirmary. Here’s the latest on each:

• Foltynewicz (elbow soreness): Will see the doctor Saturday.
• Gausman (shoulder soreness): Being brought along slowly with no set date for his spring debut.
• Soroka (shoulder soreness): Resumed throwing Thursday and will be brought along slowly.
• Swanson (offseason wrist surgery): Scratched from Friday’s lineup with soreness.

Super utility man Johan Camargo is available to play shortstop should Swanson have to begin the season on the injured list. As for the pitching, the Braves are blessed with an enviable collection of young arms. Their current rotation depth chart lines up something like this:

1. RHP Mike Foltynewicz
2. RHP Julio Teheran
3. RHP Kevin Gausman
4. LHP Sean Newcomb
5. RHP Touki Toussaint
6. RHP Mike Soroka
7. LHP Max Fried
8. LHP Luiz Gohara
9. RHP Kyle Wright
10. RHP Bryse Wilson
11. RHP Kolby Allard

Fried is a former top prospect who has exhausted his rookie eligibility but remains highly regarded. MLB.com ranks Wright (No. 30) and Wilson (No. 82) among the 100 best prospects in the game. Allard is a former top 100 prospect himself. The Braves have some talented young arms to plug into the rotation should Foltynewicz, Gausman, Soroka, or Gohara miss time. And, of course, all those young pitchers are bullpen candidates should Minter miss time as well.

Young pitching depth is a wonderful thing — there’s a reason the Braves spent the last few years hoarding arms during their rebuild — but it is only March 1 and the team is pushing the limits of their depth. Yes, Atlanta loves their young arms. They also don’t want to have to use three or four of them as injury replacements on Opening Day. The Braves are at their best when Foltynewicz, Gausman, and Minter are healthy.

The rash of injuries has naturally led to speculation the Braves could pursue the still unsigned Dallas Keuchel and/or Craig Kimbrel. Keuchel would provide veteran stability to the rotation — all those young pitchers will have their workloads monitored this year — and Kimbrel would make any bullpen better. Here’s what MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports about the club’s potential Keuchel and Kimbrel pursuits:

Even though Kevin Gausman has also been slowed because of a sore right shoulder, the Braves have not become concerned enough about either of these ailments to begin thinking about the possibility of pursuing Dallas Keuchel, the former Cy Young Award winner who has not drawn much interest from Atlanta since hitting the free-agent market in November.

…

The Braves have long indicated they would be willing to enter a short-term agreement with Kimbrel. But as the accomplished free-agent closer continues to seek a long-term deal, the two parties have not yet shared any serious discussions.

On one hand: WELP. On the other hand: No team is going to come out and say “we’re going after the top free agents now” so soon after losing players to injury, so Bowman’s reports are not terribly surprising. The Braves would crush their leverage if they came out and said they’re going after Keuchel or Kimbrel. Keuchel’s agent (Scott Boras) and Kimbrel’s agent (David Meter) are not stupid. They can smell the blood in the water.

The Braves opened last season with a $118.2 million payroll, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Their projected 2019 Opening Day payroll is currently $114.7 million. Yes, their payroll has come down, even after giving Josh Donaldson that pricey ($23 million) one-year contract. That’s because the club shed their commitments to Adrian Gonzalez ($21.5 million), Scott Kazmir ($18 million), and Brandon McCarthy ($10 million) over the winter.

In theory, the Braves are in position to add payroll. They won 90 games last year and went to the postseason, and they have to a two-year-old ballpark. I say in theory because teams league-wide are clamping down on spending, and Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos didn’t make it sound like another big signing is coming during a recent chat with Jeff Schultz of The Athletic:

All we heard about the Braves’ move to SunTrust was that it would drive a higher team payroll. Fans contend that the team promised as much. Terry, you said the team would have money to spend. But it has been a relatively quiet winter. Please explain.

Anthopoulos: Did we promise we were going to spend more money, or did we promise we were going to have more flexibility? Nobody is ever going to say, “We have to spend ‘X’ amount.”

Oddly combative, though I suppose Anthopoulos could be posturing. Again, teams do themselves no favors when they come out and declare themselves ready to spend money. Remember what happened after Phillies owner John Middleton said the team is ready to spend “stupid” money? The pressure was on them all winter to get a deal done with Manny Machado or Bryce Harper. No one wants to paint themselves into a corner like that.

It would appear the Braves have the “flexibility” to pursue Keuchel and/or Kimbrel, and with the injuries piling up this spring, the motivation to pursue one or both of them may be increasing. The Braves aren’t desperate yet, they still have all those young arms, but there’s a need and the division rival Phillies just got a whole lot better by adding Harper. Although no team makes rash decisions in spring training, the temptation to pursue Keuchel and/or Kimbrel is likely growing by the injury for Anthopoulos and the Braves.