PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Braves manager Brian Snitker knows Adam Duvall is capable of providing much more than he did during his disappointing late-season stint with Atlanta last year. Thus, Snitker plans to give the veteran outfielder every chance to prove himself during the Grapefruit League season.

Duvall produced a sharp groundout and drew a walk with his two plate appearances in the Braves' 4-3 loss to the Mets in Saturday's Grapefruit League opener at First Data Field. He'll be back in Atlanta's starting lineup for Sunday afternoon's road game against the Astros.

"I want to get him out there and get him going," Snitker said. "I remember the first time I saw him, I was thinking, 'Where did this guy come from?' He's a good player. I was glad when we got him. I don't think what he did was anything close to what the kid is capable of doing. I think he worked on his swing this winter. We've liked what we've seen so far."

When the Braves acquired Duvall from the Reds before last summer's non-waiver Trade Deadline, they knew they were getting a quality defensive outfielder who had hit 30-plus homers in each of the past two seasons. But the result was the addition of an outfielder who tallied one extra-base hit and produced a .344 OPS over 57 plate appearances.

While there may be some concerns about once again carrying Duvall as a bench player, he would need to be a complete bust over the next month to not be on the Opening Day roster.

If Duvall rebounds, he would team with Johan Camargo and Charlie Culberson to give the Braves a much deeper and more versatile bench than they had on the way to capturing last year's NL East title.

"You actually have some guys on the bench you don't mind playing," Snitker said.

Pitch clock

While many Major League pitchers and managers have indicated they won't pay attention to the 20-second clock that has been instituted for Spring Training games, Snitker says his experience with a pitch clock at the Minor League level leads him to believe it won't be an issue.

Snitker's thought is based in the belief that once pitchers adapted to the clock at the lower Minor League levels and developed habits that usually negated the possibility of being penalized.

"I'll be honest when we did it at Triple-A, the only people that had a problem with it were the big leaguers who were rehabbing," Snitker said. "Once the guys got a hold of it, you didn't even notice it anymore. It just became the new norm."

Rotation plans

Max Fried will begin his bid for a rotation spot when he starts Monday's spring home opener against the Nationals. Sean Newcomb will make his first start of the year on Tuesday, when the Mets travel to ESPN's Wide World of Sports complex.

Instead of making Julio Teheran travel to Jupiter on Wednesday, the Braves will instead have Kyle Wright start against the Cardinals. Teheran will complete a couple of innings that day against Minor Leaguers.

Up next

Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies will make their Grapefruit League debuts on Sunday, when the Braves travel to West Palm Beach to play an Astros split squad at 1:05 p.m. ET. After earning the NL Rookie of the Year Award last year, Acuna could establish himself as an MVP candidate. Mike Foltynewicz, the Braves' likely Opening Day starter, will start for Atlanta.