The Atlanta Braves 30-year-old prospect, Hector Olivera, got a little taste of MLB pitching late in 2015. The Braves called up the third baseman on September 1st and played him regularly through the month.
The Braves traded starting pitcher Alex Wood, relievers Jim Johnson and Luis Avilan, and their once top prospect, infielder Jose Peraza, to the Dodgers on July 30, 2015 to acquire Olivera.
Braves fans are expecting huge contributions from the 6-foot-2, 200-pound positional player from Cuba. He’ll enter the 2016 Spring Training with expectations to be in Atlanta and at third base full-time.
Prior to this past season, Olivera had never stared a game at third base and with injuries he suffered this year he only had 48 games to figure out the position. Because of his limited time at third, the Braves will send Olivera to Puerto Rico to play in the Caguas Creoles in the Puerto Rico Winter League.
This season starts on October 30th and Olivera is rumored to play in the first half of this season. This will give him more at-bats and extended time to have reps at the third base position. This was a great decision for Atlanta’s front office and hopefully it will pay off for them…meaning no injuries and takes something away.
But what should we expect from Olivera?
In the 10 games he played in at Triple-A Gwinnett before his call-up, Olivera hit .231 with no home runs in 39 at bats. During the month he was in Atlanta he hit .253 with two homers, a tripe and four doubles.
He showed signs in 2015 that he could potentially be a very good player in the MLB, but also showed signs that he’s still a prospect. Olivera will turn 31-years-old on April 5, but will still be considered a rookie in 2016.
As we sit on October 22, 2015, it’s extremely difficult to predict any statistical information for 2016…hell, it’s impossible to predict most statistical information. But that doesn’t stop us from trying!
Let’s take a look at some guessing games from Baseball Reference, Fan Graphs’ Steamer and Tomahawk Take. Let us know what your thoughts are for Hector Olivera in 2016 in the comments section below.
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