Even With the Return of Acuña and Ozuna, the Braves’ Outfield Has Scuffled

Final fall, the Braves received a championship with an outfield that bore no resemblance to the one which they used for the primary half of the 2021 season, as circumstances required president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos to carry out an on-the-fly remake that yielded spectacular outcomes. Actually, two of the 4 outfielders he acquired in commerce in July, Eddie Rosario and Jorge Soler, wound up successful MVP honors within the postseason, the previous within the NLCS in opposition to the Dodges and the latter within the World Collection in opposition to the Astros. But even with two of the principals whose absences necessitated that makeover — Ronald Acuña Jr. and Marcell Ozuna — again in motion, this yr’s outfield has been a significant weak spot for a group that has stumbled to an 11-15 begin.

We’re nonetheless in small-sample territory to make certain — notably with reference to the person performances — however by way of Wednesday, Braves outfielders have hit a mixed .191/.261/.331 for a 72 wRC+ in that function, the fifth-lowest mark within the majors. Worse, the group has dipped into the identical participant pool to cowl its designated hitter spot, and so they’ve completed extra sinking than swimming, hitting .171/.235/.226 for a 36 wRC+, the majors’ third-lowest mark. That lack of manufacturing has weighed down the group’s total offense, which ranks twelfth within the NL at 3.77 runs per sport. To not be outdone on the opposite aspect of the ball, Atlanta’s outfield is tied for final within the majors in each UZR (-6.3) and DRS (-7), although right here I’ll remind everybody to not get overly-invested in 4 week’s value of defensive metrics; each the outfield and DH spots are second-to-last within the majors in WAR, with -0.8 and -0.9, respectively. In Tuesday’s doubleheader loss to the Mets, their outfielders and DHs went a mixed 4-for-28, although Travis Demeritte did drive of their solely run that wasn’t accounted for by Matt Olson’s three-run homer, and Acuña collected considered one of their two extra-base hits outdoors of Olson’s pair.

To be honest, the sorry statistics above embrace solely 5 video games value of Acuña, who’s displaying indicators of returning to type after tearing his proper ACL whereas making an attempt to make a leaping catch final July 10. The 24-year-old famous person was activated on April 28, however the group has taken a cautious tack relating to his utilization, enjoying him within the area thrice, DHing him twice and giving him a day without work as nicely — a scenario that’s additional exposing the shortage of manufacturing from the remainder of the unit.

When Acuña went down final yr, he was hitting .283/.394/.596 (157 wRC+), main the NL in WAR, and making a case for himself because the league’s MVP. His loss felt notably acute with Ozuna already out of motion since late Could, first as a result of a pair of fractured fingers after which an arrest on costs of aggravated assault strangulation and misdemeanor battery; he was positioned on administrative go away whereas Main League Baseball performed an investigation in reference to its home violence coverage. With each stars out, and with middle area largely a sinkhole, Anthopoulos traded for Joc Pederson, Adam Duvall, Soler, and Rosario in July. All 4 made important contributions down the stretch and within the postseason, capped by the aforementioned work of Rosario and Soler. The group’s gaudy World Series ring even features a pearl in tribute to Pederson’s iconic necklace, in addition to the date 7-30-21 commemorating the acquisition of the opposite three outfielders.

Like most groups, the Braves didn’t get a complete lot completed earlier than the lockout started in December, although Ozuna was reinstated to the roster after having a 20-game suspension retroactively utilized. As soon as the lockout led to March, Pederson and Soler formally left the fold by way of free company, with the previous inking a one-year cope with the Giants and the latter signing a three-year cope with the Marlins. Rosario caught round Atlanta with a two-year, $18 million deal. Duvall declined his finish of a $7 million mutual choice however remained arbitration eligible, and shall be paid both $9.925 million or $10.925 million this yr, not together with the $3 million buyout he pocketed. That’s a pleasant bump from the $2 million he made final yr and from the group that non-tendered him in December 2020 in addition, however then a 38-homer season accompanied by a league-leading RBI complete and a Gold Glove will do this, even once you publish a .281 on-base share.

The Braves additionally made two different outfield-related transactions of be aware in March. On March 14, they traded prospect Cristian Pache — who began 9 of the group’s first 11 video games final yr earlier than being despatched again to Triple-A — to the A’s as a part of the bundle that introduced again Olson. Two days later, they signed Alex Dickerson to a one-year, $1 million deal.

The group knew Acuña wouldn’t be out there to begin the season. He’d undergone surgical procedure simply earlier than the All-Star break, and returned to taking on-field batting follow on January 12, however his restoration had not progressed far sufficient for him to play in Grapefruit League video games, and the understanding was that he would be part of the group in early Could. With out him, the Braves appeared able to roll into the season with an Ozuna-Duvall-Rosario outfield, backed up by Orlando Arcia and Guillermo Heredia, and Dickerson because the designated hitter — not a really robust wanting association, however not supposed to be a everlasting one, both. Nonetheless, no one might have envisioned this type of flimsiness.

Ozuna led the NL in each homers and RBIs in 2020 whereas hitting for a 178 wRC+, however he was struggling mightily final yr (.213/.288/.356, 73 wRC+) earlier than he broke two fingers sliding into third base on Could 25. He’s proven some energy early, accumulating 9 extra-base hits, however with only one hit in his final 20 plate appearances, together with an 0-for-8 in Tuesday’s doubleheader, he’s hitting simply .225/.259/.392 for an 86 wRC+. He has been overly aggressive on the plate, along with his 38.9% chase price and 53.2% swing price each representing profession highs, and each about six share factors above his profession charges (did somebody say pressing?). If there’s excellent news, it’s in his batted ball stats, notably his 13.3% barrel price and 48.2% hard-hit price. His Statcast anticipated numbers are strong, with a .275 xBA, .548 xSLG, and .356 xwOBA; the 156-point hole between his precise and anticipated slugging percentages locations him within the majors’ backside 20 among the many 169 gamers with at the very least 75 PA.

Duvall has batted ball stats forward of his precise stats, however that’s not saying a lot given his .178/.240/.267 (47 wRC+) line and 33% strikeout price. Although he’s averaging 91.1 mph along with his exit velocity, and his 44.1% hard-hit price is definitely above final yr’s mark, his 6.8% barrel price is lower than half of final yr’s 16.1%. Actually, he has the majors’ fourth-largest year-to-year drop in barrel price to date:

Duvall has been completely bedeviled by breaking balls to date. The place he hit .256 and slugged .605 in opposition to them final yr, he’s at .139 AVG/.167 SLG this yr, and his swinging strike price in opposition to such pitches has risen from 19.5% to 26.9%. He’s moreover hitless in opposition to offspeed pitches, which foiled him final yr as nicely (.132 AVG/.264 SLG); in opposition to these two classes, he’s barreled only one ball thus far (3.8%).

Whereas Ozuna and Duvall at the very least stay out there, Rosario could possibly be out of motion till after the All-Star break. He went simply 3-for-44 with 5 walks and 10 strikeouts earlier than occurring the injured record on April 26 as a result of blurred imaginative and prescient and swelling in his proper eye; he underwent laser surgical procedure and can miss eight to 12 weeks. The Braves have been unaware of his situation till he informed them, and at this writing, neither he nor the group have supplied readability (sorry) relating to the trigger or the timing of the issue.

Dickerson didn’t fare significantly better. Coming off a disappointing 2021 season (.233/.304/.420, 97 wRC+) after a breakout ’20 (.298/.371/.576, 151 wRC+), he went simply 4-for-33 with a homer and three walks whereas enjoying nearly completely within the DH function; he spent one inning in proper area on April 20. The Braves designated him for task on April 28 whereas activating Acuña a few week forward of their previously targeted Could 6 date for his return. Dickerson cleared waivers and accepted an task to Triple-A Gwinnett.

With Rosario and Dickerson each gone, the Braves have given extra publicity to Heredia, Arcia, and Demeritte. Hereida hasn’t hit, going 3-for-27 with a 46.7% strikeout price, however the different two have been productive inside their restricted roles. The 27-year-old Arcia, a shortstop-turned-utilityman who entered the yr with a profession line of .242/.293/.363 (70 wRC+) and was even worse than that final yr, has hit .296/.394/.370 by way of 33 PA, strolling at a 15.2% clip (greater than double his 6.8% profession mark) and barreling three balls, yet another than he had in 89 PA final season. The 27-year-old Demeritte, a 2013 first spherical decide who didn’t play within the majors final yr after hitting .217/.284/.323 with the Tigers in ’19-20, has hit .303/.368/.545 by way of 38 PA; his two homers are double Duvall’s complete.

Acuña is simply 3-for-20 with a 34.8% strikeout price at this writing, however Monday and Tuesday provided robust indicators of his returning to type. Within the third inning of Monday evening’s sport, he legged out a chopper to 3rd base in opposition to Chris Bassitt; whereas he was initially dominated out, the decision on the sector was overturned. Within the seventh inning of that sport, he put a cost right into a Bassitt slider and hit it 109.4 mph to deep middle area, the place Brandon Nimmo made a leaping catch to rob him of an extra-base hit. He started Monday’s nightcap by roping a Carlos Carrasco fastball into the left area nook for a double. Not solely was it his first extra-base hit of the yr, its 116.6 mph exit velocity was the 10th-highest of any batted ball on this younger season.

Even given these indicators that Acuña is near all the best way again, the Braves are going to proceed with some warning, with supervisor Brian Snitker saying that he won’t be used on an on a regular basis foundation within the area till July, when he’s a yr faraway from surgical procedure. In mild of that, don’t maintain your breath ready for a return to middle area, the place he performed simply two video games final yr. Even so, already on the street journey to New York the Braves have relaxed what is likely to be referred to as the Ronald Rules. Monday evening’s sport represented the primary time this yr that he performed the day after touring, and Wednesday afternoon’s collection finale was his first time enjoying a day sport after an evening sport, albeit because the DH.

A completely operational Acuña could be an enormous increase for the defending champions, although they’ll nonetheless want Ozuna and Duvall to begin hitting as nicely, and so they’ll most likely want one other productive bat within the combine, too, given how unlikely it’s that Arcia and Demeritte can preserve their scorching begins or that the gathering of journeymen they’ve stashed at Gwinnnett — Dickerson, Delino DeShields, Phil Gosselin, Preston Tucker — can present an improve. Between Anthopoulous’ offers and their rally from a 52-55 report final yr, they’ve confirmed to themselves {that a} gradual begin could be overcome, however with the Mets (18-8) already seven video games forward of them within the standings, they’ve their work minimize out.