Braves' Gomes: 'If these spring training games didn't count, we wouldn't play them'

Atlanta Braves outfielder Jonny Gomes believes the importance of spring training should not be undervalued.

"If these spring training games didn't count, we wouldn't play them," Gomes told Mark Bowman of MLB.com. "It's pretty simple. I could have stayed at home with my family in Scottsdale (Ariz.) and gone down to the putt-putt and thrown some tokens in the fast pitch and said I'm ready."

With 12 major league seasons and a World Series championship in 2013, Gomes was brought in to Atlanta in part for his veteran leadership.

Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez offered the same sentiments as Gomes. 

"You've got to get these guys ready to play a baseball season, get some at-bats and get the timing right," Gonzalez said. "At the end of the day, you want to win those games. You don't want to risk injury to win a Grapefruit League game. But there is some competition there."

Atlanta opens its spring training schedule against the New York Mets on Wednesday.