the short list

Much of the focus will be on the starting pitchers returning from injury when the Atlanta Braves launch spring training later this month. But the situation at shortstop is equally compelling. Raw rookie Tyler Pastornicky, who spent much of the 2010 and ’11 seasons with the Mississippi Braves, is going to get first crack at the job. “I’m definitely ready,” he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently. “I’ve still got a lot of hard work to do. … I think I’m ready to do this.” He looked ready last year with the M-Braves, batting .299 with six home runs, 36 RBIs, five triples and 20 stolen bases. Then he hit .365 in 104 at-bats at Triple-A Gwinnett. Atlanta called him up at season’s end — he is No. 58 on the M-Braves-to-the-majors list — but he didn’t get into that painful final game. He’s not an imposing figure, and he may not blow you away with his talent. But Pastornicky has all the tools. Plus, his father played in the majors. That never hurts. One Braves official said Pastornicky plays “with a little bit of urgency.” That doesn’t hurt, either. Braves fans will like him. The fall-back plan apparently is veteran Jack Wilson, but still around is Brandon Hicks, another ex-M-Braves standout. Hicks hit 18 homers at Gwinnett last year and is good with the glove. He might yet figure into the shortstop battle.
P.S. There are 21 ex-M-Braves on Atlanta’s current 40-man roster. … Pitcher Zeke Spruill, shortstop Andrelton Simmons, catcher Christian Bethancourt, first baseman Joe Terdoslavich and outfielder Todd Cunningham — likely 2012 M-Braves — are going to big league camp as non-roster invitees. So is first baseman Ernesto Mejia, who hit 26 homers and drove in 99 runs for the M-Braves in 2011, and lefty reliever Dusty Hughes, the former Delta State star who signed as a free agent in the off-season.