VIERA, Fla. -- The Braves made their first round of spring cuts on Monday when they optioned a pair of players to Triple-A Gwinnett and reassigned four others.
Left-hander Ian Thomas and infielder Elmer Reyes were sent to Gwinnett, while veteran right-hander Matt Capps, infielder Johan Camargo and catchers Yenier Bello and Tanner Murphy were all reassigned to Minor League camp
.Capps, an All-Star in 2010, has struggled to regain his velocity as he continues his comeback attempt. He had been throwing around 85-to-87 mph during camp and has not made it through either of the past two Spring Trainings. Capps, 31, has not pitched in the Majors since 2012 with the Twins.
Reyes, meanwhile, returns to Gwinnett where the 24-year-old hit .286/.318/.427 in 55 games last year following a midseason promotion from Double-A Mississippi.
Camargo, 21, had played in four games for the Braves this spring and stole a base as a pinch-runner.
This ends Murphy's first stint at big league camp, and although he made an impression on some within the organization, he has played fewer than 100 games at the pro level.
Atlanta now has 60 active players remaining at its Major League camp.
Miguel Sano, prospect possibility for the Chattanooga Lookouts
BRADENTON, Fla. -- The Pirates and Twins ended their matchup in a 1-1 tie, Pittsburgh's second of the spring, on Monday at McKechnie Field.
Sano picked on Gerrit Cole's first pitch to him in the second to send it onto the left-center boardwalk against the wind. It was the first spring homer for Sano, rated MLB.com's overall No. 4 prospect a year ago before losing the entire 2014 season to Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery. He's now ranked No. 11 by MLB.com.
Sano was in the lineup as the Twins' DH -- which the Pirates did not employ in keeping with manager Clint Hurdle's spring mission to improve his pitchers' bat work.
---- Source: MLB.com