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For many teams, spring training helps gauge what to expect in the upcoming season. For the Atlanta Braves, however, it’s clear that this spring training is more about the seasons to come.

The Braves are in the midst of a rebuilding project after shipping off major pieces last season and this offseason. They sent young lefty Alex Wood to the Dodgers at the end of July. They traded shortstop Andrelton Simmons to the Angels in November. Then they moved All-Star right-hander Shelby Miller to Arizona in December.

Today, Atlanta is a much younger team aiming to be great in 2017 and beyond rather than this season. That can be seen in the abundance of young talent the organization has in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

One of the players creating the most excitement among the fanbase is one who likely won’t even be on the roster for the season opener: last year’s No. 1 overall pick, Dansby Swanson.

Swanson came to Atlanta in the Miller trade. The shortstop grew up in the Atlanta area and went to Marietta High School, not far from where the Braves’ new stadium, SunTrust Park, is being built.

Just like with Jeff Francoeur and Jason Heyward in their early years, there’s a lot of excitement about the hometown prospect coming to play for Atlanta. Swanson told David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he’s excited to play for his hometown team.

The shortstop was one of several position players to arrive early to spring training. He hit .289 with one home run, 11 RBI and a .394 OBP in 22 games with the Hillsboro Hops last year.

Swanson will likely get called up to the majors this season. He already has a pretty swing, as he shows in the Cage Cam video below from the Braves’ Twitter account. That’s a positive sign for a player who’s only 22.

Atlanta also has a wealth of young pitching talent. Matt Wisler, a 23-year-old right-hander, is expected to play a significant role in the Braves’ rotation.

In the video below from Grant McAuley of 92.9 The Game in Atlanta, Wisler is working on his pitch placement. As a control pitcher, that’s the key to his success. If he can continue to improve his accuracy, he could give the Braves a reliable option in the middle of their rotation.

The Braves are also counting on Mike Foltynewicz. The 24-year-old is still working back after blood clots ended his season in September. O’Brien reported that Foltynewicz threw in the bullpen on Sunday morning for the first time since having surgery in December.

“Folty threw the ball well,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez told O’Brien. “That’s a nice sign, to get on the mound and get going.”

Another healthy young arm will be valuable for the Braves as they continue their rebuild. But it isn’t all young talent making impressions for Atlanta.

Hector Olivera, the 30-year-old acquired by the Braves in that blockbuster trade with the Dodgers last season, has unveiled a simpler swing to start spring training. You can see in this video from MLB.com’s Mark Bowman that his motion is smoother and more relaxed:

O’Brien reported that Olivera began tinkering with his swing during winter league play in Puerto Rico with the help of Atlanta hitting coach Kevin Seitzer.

Olivera’s winter league coach, Alex Cora, told O’Brien that Olivera looks comfortable with the new motion.

“Hector looks, physically, a lot better in that video,” Cora told O’Brien.

The left fielder will be one of the players tasked with keeping Atlanta afloat while the organization develops all its young talent.

It’s clear that the Braves’ 2016 spring training isn’t really about 2016. It’s about the future. As the season opener approaches, they’ll be focused more on the outlook for their young players than the expectations for this season.

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With spring training in full swing this week, a select few will be looking to make the most of their preseason opportunities. There are generally two different types of players who find themselves as non-roster invitees for an MLB team during spring training:

• A veteran player who was unable to secure a guaranteed MLB deal and is looking to play his way onto the Opening Day roster.

• A top prospect who doesn’t have a real shot at making the Opening Day roster but will benefit from being in camp with the MLB guys and getting some experience against top competition.

That being said, a handful of guys from both groups always wind up showing enough in the preseason to break camp with the big league club.

Ahead is a look at 10 guys with a realistic chance of doing just that, based on the roster situations they are facing and the players they’ll be competing against for a job.

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It was a long, grueling stretch of nearly four months without baseball, but those days are finally behind us.

Wednesday brought about the first batch of pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training for their respective teams, and other teams will follow suit until Feb. 22. By the time position players for the Minnesota Twins report on Feb. 27, each team will have its full spring training roster in place. 

For now, though, the focus lies primarily on pitchers and catchers as they shake off their offseason rust and try to make a definitive case for their spot on the MLB roster.

Many teams—like the Arizona Diamondbacks—have the front end of their starting rotation locked in but will use spring training performances to determine the rest of their rotation:

It is practically a given that Shelby Miler, acquired in an offseason trade with the Atlanta Braves for a king’s ransom, will be the No. 2 pitcher behind Zack Greinke, but the rest of the rotation is anyone’s guess at this point.

One of the hottest stories of the offseason has been the future of Miami Marlins ace Jose Fernandez, and it has not subsided with the presence of spring training.

Already an All-Star and one of the best pitchers in baseball at only 23 years old, he is poised to land a ludicrous contract extension. However, Fernandez has been adamant about his focus on the upcoming season and leaving contract discussions to his agent, Scott Boras: 

Of course, there also exists the very distinct possibility that Fernandez will have these contract discussions with another team next offseason.

Baltimore Orioles pitcher Dylan Bundy is another interesting pitcher to watch during the spring, as he attempts to rebound from the series of injuries that have plagued him since 2013. 

Bundy‘s talent is undeniable, but those injuries have derailed his career ever since he reached the majors as a 19-year-old back in September 2012. Now 23, a healthy season from Bundy could help the Orioles claim the AL East title.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know about the San Francisco Giants’ even-year World Series streak. Every even year since 2010, the Giants have won the World Series, and another World Series victory this season would continue that streak.

If they are to do so, however, ace Madison Bumgarner will need to regain his sensational 2014 World Series performance. Whether he’ll do so remains to be seen, but for now, Giants fans have to be thrilled with their first Bumgarner sighting of the season:

Perhaps the most notable spring training event thus far concerns not a pitcher, but rather a former catcher. Kyle Schwarber of the Chicago Cubs, who is well-known for his monstrous home runs, hit another one during batting practice on Wednesday.

Unfortunately for this poor fan, it came at a hefty price:

Fortunately, Schwarber went on Twitter to help the fan get his car fixed, and he was successful in doing so.

Even though spring training is but a few days old, there has been no shortage of hot storylines and big events surrounding it.

With additional pitchers and catchers reporting over the next few days, there will surely be more to come.

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