Will The Atlanta Braves Add Trevor Plouffe?
By Fred Owens
Atlanta Braves Interested?
The 6’2” 215lb RHH Plouffe turns 31 in June and performed well for the Twins after moving to third from shortstop in 2012. While he’s not anyone’s superstar he’s been at or above league average since.
I usually restrict this to the last three seasons in order focus in recent results. This spread is only five seasons and one of those was a half season so I elected to show all of them.
| Year | G | AB | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | OPS+ |
| 2012 | 119 | 422 | 24 | 55 | 37 | 92 | .235 | .301 | .455 | .756 | 106 |
| 2013 | 129 | 477 | 14 | 52 | 34 | 112 | .254 | .309 | .392 | .701 | 92 |
| 2014 | 136 | 520 | 14 | 80 | 53 | 109 | .258 | .328 | .423 | .751 | 110 |
| 2015 | 152 | 573 | 22 | 86 | 50 | 124 | .244 | .307 | .435 | .742 | 102 |
| 2016 | 84 | 319 | 12 | 47 | 19 | 60 | .260 | .303 | .420 | .723 | 95 |
Data from Baseball-Reference.com
A series of niggling injuries in 2013 including missing a week on the concussion list, a calf strain and a wrist injury affected his production but 2014 saw him rebound nicely.
Injuries again restricted Plouffe this year allowing him to play only 84 games, 62 of those at third.
- He missed the last half of April with a strained right intercostal muscle
- Fractured left rib on July seventh
- Strained left oblique on September ninth
Those things make his line equal to about a half a season’s play. In that context he posted a .260/.303/.420/.723 line over 344 PA that included 12 homers, 13 doubles, 60 strikeouts and 20 walks.
Baseball-Reference shows a career interleague line of .279/.343/.513/.856 including 15 homers and 23 doubles in 343PA /308AB.
His first year at third defensively wasn’t pretty but he improved as he settled into the role. He’s a solid player and a potentially inexpensive upgrade at a position in short supply. The Braves will certainly be interested enough to do their due diligence and explore the possibility of signing him.