The Atlanta Braves have a very promising young core of outfielders on their way to the big leagues. By the time 2019 rolls around, we’ll probably see only one familiar face in Ender Inciarte left, hopefully.
We all know who Ronald Acuna is and where he sits in all of the MLB prospect rankings. If you don’t, then it’s probably time to crawl out from under your rock.
However, with the recent revelation that Acuna begins the 2018 season in AAA-Gwinnett, Atlanta will kick off the season with four outfielders. Ender Inciarte, Nick Markakis, and an assumed platoon of Lane Adams and Preston Tucker in left field will be the group that opens the year on the 25 man roster.
That will change quickly.
Besides Acuna, Triple-A houses Jaff Decker, Dustin Peterson, Danny Santana, and Christian Pache, all non-Roster Invitees, have a shot at seeing some, albeit little, MLB time.
Interesting to note here is that of all of the NRI’s, Pache is coming to his first MLB Spring Training after playing last year in Low-A Rome. He will be one to definitely watch this spring.
The other 3 of the other 4 outfielders were all on AAA rosters last season. Jaff Decker has been up and down between AAA and MLB since 2013 with teams including San Diego, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, and Oakland.