The Atlanta Braves called up Cuban prospect Hector Olivera on Tuesday when the MLB allowed teams to expand their rosters to 40-men. The September 1st call-ups is probably one of the worst “rules” in all of sports. However, that’s a different topic.
Today, Alan Carpenter and myself had a friendly debate on the Braves calling up Olivera. Alan took the side of Yes, Olivera the Braves should had called him up when they did. I was on the other side of the coin and said no, they should have waited.
Check out our thoughts and then decide for yourself in our poll below.
ALAN: There’s no arbitration clock at stake here – the contract is the contract and he’s being paid whether he’s in the majors or in the GCL. So no issues there either way. He needs to learn third base. While scouts believe he can handle the position, he needs to get started… and the major league level is appropriate for that.
Sep 1, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
JEFF: To learn the 3rd base position, additional minor league games is what he needs. You don’t want to be in the MLB in front of everyone making mistakes. Plus, he only played in 9 games at 3B in Gwinnett and 27 games overall (5 with Dodgers Triple-A). His primary position in Cuba was 2nd base and 3rd base is still very new to him.
ALAN: The Gwinnett schedule will likely end in under a week, so we’re rapidly approaching a time in which the only place he can get game experience – especially for his defense – is in the majors.
JEFF: Gwinnett only has five games left in the regular season and two against top seeded Norfolk. Gwinnett is currently only two games behind Norfolk for a playoff spot…Gwinnett hasn’t made the post-season since 2009. Why not let him be on a winning team and try to make the playoffs. I realize it’s the Triple-A playoffs and success there doesn’t mean much, but let him get a feel for winning. With his help, Gwinnett could win out and make the playoff. Keep Olivera down for a few more games, see what Gwinnett does. If they lose, call him up. If they win, keep him in Gwinnett.
ALAN: Whether you figure the season is a lost one at this point (yes) or not, it’s a good thing to go ahead and get the early jitters out of the way now – leave no suspense or drama at all about what might happen come next Spring. It’s been mentioned by Don Sutton and Jim Powell on radio (no link to cite) that for new players, it actually helps their development to be able to go into a situation without having to look over their shoulders and have the pressure of not knowing how long their performance leash extends. Their context when discussing this was Jace Peterson, but on the flip side, we can probably point to the 2015 bullpen and note how many of them may not have been able to handle the pressure of thinking that one bad outing could send them back up to Gwinnett. For Olivera, this is a good time to get comfortable as a major league player so that he’ll be ready – after years of inactivity – for a full season starting in Orlando next February.
Sep 1, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
There’s also no substitute for seeing major league pitching. Since Olivera will be counted on to be one of the major middle-of-the-order bats, he needs to see as many ABs as possible. This is probably about the biggest reason for promoting him that I can think of: he needs to be ready to roll next April, and this experience will be invaluable toward that end.
JEFF: True, MLB at-bats are great to have and key for his future success. I would have preferred the Braves hold off on this call-up, let him get more Triple-A at-bats where he can gain extra confidence, then call him up in mid-September or whenever Gwinnett is eliminated.
In the 10 games he played with Gwinnett (1 game he was the DH), he batted .231/.286/.308, not great statistics there.
My thoughts are, the Braves fan base wants this guy to be great and a savior to the Braves offense. Folks are already monitoring his every at-bat. I don’t want him to struggle the rest of September and “fail” in the eyes of fans/Front Office.
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So…there’s are debate…what do you think?