One of the things that makes spring training great is that you get to see Atlanta Braves players that you otherwise wouldn’t until they hopefully make it to the big leagues. As the regular big leaguers just get their reps in, prospects and non-roster invitees go to war trying to do enough to earn a roster spot or at least get in the conversation.
No area of the Braves’ roster is as uncertain as the bullpen at the moment. While roughly five of the relief spots are pretty well spoken for, there are a number of arms vying for the remaining three-ish slots in the bullpen with Hector Neris being the newest entrant into the ring.
When the Braves took on the Tigers on Tuesday, however, a different sort of bullpen competition took place. In the second inning, it became very apparent that a raccoon had taken up residence in the bullpen and had very little interest in leaving. The result was predictably hilarious.
Raccoon provides funny moment (and a dose of chaos) during Braves spring training game
First of all, a hat tip to Braves radio broadcaster Ben Ingram for the call here. Known to troll Braves fans with a “Braves’ newest hot prospect” line followed by an ad read for hot sauce, Ingram flawlessly acknowledged that there was activity in Atlanta’s bullpen before explaining the situation with the ornery raccoon.
As for the raccoon, we loved his moxie here. Notice his form positioning himself up high away from stadium personnel while also having one of his sides protected by a barrier. This was a raccoon with a plan and he was clearly getting the best of these poor workers tasked with trying to evict him. Get that furry friend a jersey and release him for every home game. Hell, this seems like a great opportunity to do some sort of Guardians of the Galaxy promotion.
The rest of the game (so far) has been mostly uneventful. Grant Holmes pitched well in his five innings of work, Dylan Covey was decidedly less good in his 1.2 innings, and the offense has done precious little other than a rare home run from prospect Geraldo Quintero. One hopes that we get an update on the raccoon and whether or not he will get to make another appearance, because that is what really matters on this day.
