Overview
- In the fifth inning Saturday against the Braves, coaches made a late swap that moved Gunnar Henderson to third and sent Coby Mayo to shortstop after Mayo initially expected to shift to first.
- It was Mayo’s first professional shortstop appearance since a brief 2021 outing in rookie ball, and he did not handle a play during the one-inning look.
- Staff framed the alignment as a way to give Henderson third-base reps in advance of his Team USA duties at the World Baseball Classic.
- Mayo is concentrating on third base this spring, working with Miguel Cairo and Buck Britton and showing defensive improvement following a couple of early errors.
- Spring notes: Adley Rutschman doubled and hit his first Grapefruit League homer, rookie Vance Honeycutt has three home runs in his first three at-bats, and Kyle Bradish logged three innings with five strikeouts and no walks.