Atlanta Braves: Can Ronald Acuna open the season in their outfield?
By Jason Evans
Can top prospect Ronald Acuna start the season in left field for the Atlanta Braves?
When the Atlanta Braves made the Matt Kemp trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers, it gave the club a little veteran starting pitching depth if Scott Kazmir and Brandon McCarthy can stay healthy, but it also created a hole in left field.
In looking at their 40 man roster, they only have four outfielders listed. Ender Inciarte and Nick Markakis compose two-thirds of the outfield. Left field would be a platoon of Lane Adams and Preston Tucker. Adams, in 85 games and 109 at-bats had an .807 OPS. He’s also 28 years old. The 27-year-old Tucker hasn’t appeared in the majors since 2016 and had a .798 OPS in AAA for the Houston Astros last year.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
Top prospect Ronald Acuna, who rose up the ranks last year, hopes to force the Braves hand as a non-roster invitee this spring.
"“I want to make that decision as hard on them as possible,” Acuna said through an interpreter. “If they decide to send me down to Triple-A, I want to make it a tough decision. I want to make it to the point where they really don’t have much of a decision.”"
Acuna had an .896 OPS across three levels last season with a .325 average and 21 homers. The crazy part is he just turned 20.
If I had to guess, opening day would not be Acuna’s time. The Braves can get an extra year of control by waiting, probably around two weeks, before calling up Acuna. For a team that is going through a rebuild, with a ton of talent on the way to go with young players who are already up like Dansby Swanson and Ozzie Albies, why not wait a couple of weeks and get that extra year of control?
Next: Padres still in on Hosmer?
The Braves did lose talent from the fallout of their international free agent scandal, but guys like Acuna weren’t taken away, and they still have eight of MLBpipeline’s top 100 prospects, including Acuna checking in at number two on the list.
The Atlanta Braves hope that Acuna Matata means no worries in left field for the next 10-15 years. It’s just a matter of whether that time frame starts on Opening Day or not.