After a staggering 21 players started games in left field for the Braves over three seasons, including many has-beens and never-weres, faded former prospects, sundry journeymen and one colossal mistake – hello, Hector Olivera – the position should soon belong to a supremely talented youngster some think could be Atlanta’s next Andruw Jones.
Ronald Acuna is a five-tool dynamo and the most eagerly anticipated Braves prospect since Jason Heyward. All eyes will be on him when full-squad workouts begin Feb. 19. Braves pitchers and catchers report Tuesday and have their first workout Wednesday.
By now, all of Braves Country and most other serious baseball fans know about Acuna, the sport’s consensus No. 1 prospect. He turned 20 in December and will compete for a starting job at spring training. The only thing that might prevent him from getting it could be if the team decides to keep him in Triple-A a few weeks to assure an extra season of contractual control before free agency.
Acuna rocketed through the Braves’ system last season, going from high Single-A to Double-A and on to Triple-A, and pulled off a rare feat by hitting better at each level despite being the youngest player in two of them. Then he went to the prospect-filled Arizona Fall League and became that league’s youngest MVP. Along the way, expectations have zoomed off the charts.
The idea of keeping Acuna down for at least a few weeks for the sake of service time is a distasteful subject for some fans, who want him in the lineup as soon as possible. But given baseball’s service-time rules and free agency, there are benefits if the Braves decide to go that route, like the Cubs did when they kept Kris Bryant in Triple-A at the beginning of his 2015 rookie season.
If the subject is more complicated or cold than some folks want to dwell at such a special time of year – the beginning of spring training – suffice to say if Acuna isn’t in left field opening day March 29 against the Phillies at SunTrust Park, there would likely be a good chance his debut would come during the second homestand April 16-22.
Some ask, why left field if he’s so good defensively? On most teams Acuna would be slotted for center field, where he shone in the minors with his quickness, range, instincts and arm. But the Braves have two-time Gold Glove winner Ender Inciarte in center; there are few in Inciarte’s class defensively.
Acuna could also be a good fit in right field if the Braves wanted to move veteran Nick Markakis to left, or Acuna could move there after Markakis leaves as a free agent following the 2018 season or in a trade before then. But with more ground to cover in left field than in right due to SunTrust Park dimensions, the Braves might put Acuna in left and keep him there long-term – or at least as long as Inciarte is the center fielder.
With Acuna and Inciarte, the Braves should have a strong defensive outfield regardless of who is the unit’s third. Improving the defense was and is a priority for first-year Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos, who accomplished that just by trading overweight veteran left fielder Matt Kemp and the final two years of his onerous contract to the Dodgers in December.
The Braves will be better defensively without Kemp, whether Acuna is in left field or speedster Lane Adams and newcomer Preston Tucker handle the position until the super prospect arrives.
The Braves pursued other strong overall outfielders this winter including Christian Yelich before he was traded to Milwaukee and free agent Lorenzo Cain before he signed with the Brewers. They continue to monitor free agent and trade markets, seeking to add power in the outfield or a short-term third base. But the Braves seem willing to enter the season with current personnel if no attractive options are deemed affordable.
“We don’t have that big right-handed bat until you-know-who comes along,” Braves slugger Freddie Freeman said, referring to Acuna, “and hopefully he can make an impact right away. We’re going to have our ups and downs with him. It’ll be his first year learning the system, learning the game, people making adjustments to him. But he could be that guy. And hopefully he’s the next Aaron Judge where he can come in and make an impact right away.”
Until Acuna arrives the Braves could split left-field duties between Adams and Tucker, who came from the Astros in a December trade after Kemp was shipped out. Tucker, a left-handed hitter who had seven triples and 24 home runs last season in Triple-A, spent parts of two seasons in the majors with Houston in 2015-16 and hit .219 with a .274 OBP, 27 doubles and 17 home runs in 467 plate appearances over 146 games.
Tucker showed good power in his only extensive major league time in 2015, when he hit .243 with 19 doubles and 13 home runs in 300 at-bats and had a .297 OBP. He played 98 games that season for Houston including 62 starts in left field, 12 in right field and two as designated hitter.
While the Braves could platoon right-handed hitting Adams with Tucker until Acuna arrives, a straight platoon might not be ideal: Tucker has a .229 average, 16 homers and a .729 OPS in 350 major league at-bats against right-handers, compared to a .179 average with one homer and a .457 OPS in 84 at-bats against leftie. But Adams had “reverse” splits last season in his first extensive big-league time, hitting far better against righties (.321 average, five homers, .927 OPS in 87 plate appearances) than against lefties (.143, no homers, .437 in 35 PAs), albeit in a small sample size.
In the unlikely event that Acuna were to struggle at spring training or Triple-A to start the season, there’s a possibility the Braves could push back his arrival to mid-summer, delaying Acuna’s arbitration clock an extra year – a move that could keep his salary well below $1 million through 2021. The operative word in that scenario is “unlikely” as there has been nothing in his performance over the past year and nothing heard from scouts who’ve watched him most to suggest Acuna is moving too fast or that the Braves might decide to pump the brakes a bit on his career ascent.
“I said last year, if you want to get right down to it, he could’ve made our club as a fence-jumper last year really,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said, using the term for players brought over from minor league camp to play major league spring training games, usually in the first week or two before regulars are ready for extended at-bats, or as extras for split-squad games or road trips that some veterans don’t make.
That wasn’t the case with Acuna, who was 19 and hadn’t played above low Single-A ball, but thrived while playing more Grapefruit League games last spring than most “fence-jumpers” ever do. He hit .296 with a .387 OBP in 13 major league spring-training games, a harbinger of his 2017 season.
“He was a fun kid to watch,” Snitker said. “It’ll be more fun this year to have him in camp with us every day and to see what the kid brings. Very talented young man. You watch film but just from last year, you see this kid’s special.”
Acuna closed his stellar 2017 season with a 54-game stint at Triple-A Gwinnett, where the wiry-strong Venezuelan hit .344 with 25 extra-base hits (nine homers) and a .940 OPS in 54 games while competing against players who were mostly three to six years older than him.
He finished with a combined .325 average, 31 doubles, eight triples, 21 homers, 82 RBIs, 44 stolen bases and an .896 OPS in 139 games for three minor league affiliates and was named Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year.
