SARASOTA, Fla. -- From the day he was acquired in the December deal that sent Shelby Miller to the D-backs, pitcher Aaron Blair has consistently been identified by Braves management as the prospect with the best chance of making this year's Opening Day roster.
In Wednesday afternoon's start against the Orioles, the big right-hander showed that he may still be a work in progress.
• Spring Training:Tickets | Schedule | 40-man roster
After cruising through a first inning in which he didn't allow a ball out of the infield, Blair allowed four runs in the second on five hits, including a leadoff home run to center by Chris Davis and a towering two-out, two-run shot to left by Jonathan Schoop.
Blair limited the damage by inducing a double-player grounder to third off the bat of J.J. Hardy prior to Schoop's blast.
Blair was lifted after the second inning, having thrown 19 of his 35 pitches for strikes. He didn't record a strikeout or surrender a walk.
Drafted in the first round by the D-backs in the 2013 Draft out of Marshall University, Blair went 7-2 with a 3.16 ERA at Triple-A Reno in 2015 after going 6-3 with a 2.70 ERA at Double-A Mobile.