Hearing some really good things about 2 of the Braves’ best outfield prospects… things that make you want to turn the calendar forward to 2020 to see how it turns out.
There are some interesting stories coming out of Orlando about two-thirds of the Atlanta Braves‘ future outfield.
The first bit is about Ronald Acuna and his behavior after being removed from the game on Saturday.
Spring work schedules usually follow this kind of routine: some combinations of stretching, exercise, running, throwing, fielding, batting practice and then finally a game. Most players already know when they are going into the game and how many innings they will play.
But once they are out of the game… that’s it. Hit the showers and they you’re free to go. The rest of the afternoon and evening hours are yours.
That’s why people took some notice when Acuna was replaced after his third AB yesterday in the 6th. He didn’t leave. No only did he not leave, but he actually stayed in the dugout to watch the rest of the game.
Now mind you, this is a kid that many were describing as having an arrogant streak while he was out in Arizona, raising concerns about his maturity level and whether he was ready for the big stage as a result.
He was asked about that ‘lingering in the dugout’ bit afterwards. His response was that he wanted to see if he might learn something.
"Most players return to the clubhouse after being removed from a game. But without any prompting from his coaches, Acuna chose to soak in some more knowledge by staying in the dugout.“He’s an impressive kid,” Snitker said. “There’s a lot to like about him.”"
That’s not an arrogant kid. That’s a hungry ballplayer.
Cristian Pache, his bat and his glove
I’m going to go ahead and apologize now. It was earlier in this off-season when I was looking for trade match-ups with various clubs (like Miami for Christian Yelich) when I named Pache among those prospects I thought the Braves could part with without losing much in the future.
I knew he was a strong defensive fielder, but really didn’t have anything for power beyond a useful hit tool. Such players are good and valuable… but more like “fringe-starter-to-4th-outfielder” valuable. Something between Billy Hamilton and Juan Lagares, perhaps.
Well, things may be changing… and I don’t want him going anywhere.
It seems that two things are happening, in fact:
- Kevin Seitzer is taking on Pache as his personal project
- It’s working
Yesterday, I repeated a note about the sound and fury coming from Pache’s bat during BP. He already had a hit in his first Spring game, too.
Here’s where the AJC’s Dave O’Brien picks up the story:
"Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer … is doing extra work early each morning this spring with Pache — to help the 19-year-old Dominican tap into his natural power, the only tool obviously lacking in a teen whose sensational center field defense, arm strength and speed rank at the top of the scouting charts.“We’re in a little bit of a — I won’t say rebuild, but it’s a new build,” Seitzer said of the project, which he’ll continue until Pache is sent to minor league camp at some point in March. It’s work that Seitzer believes is already yielding results in the form of a shorter, quicker swing from Pache."
The rest of the story details what Seitzer saw in Pache’s swing: it was long, ‘sweepy’, and lacking in speed with his hands.
What’s funny is that Seitzer is basically begging Alex Anthopoulos to keep Pache with the major league camp for as long as possible so that “I can keep my hands on him every morning and just see where this ends up”.
But that article’s last line is telling – and has me excited about the possibilities, too:
"“But man, this kid (Pache), put him and Acuna in the outfield some day? Wow, wow, wow,” Seitzer said. “And Ender (Inciarte)? Whew, how about that? You wouldn’t freaking be able to hit a ball in the air without it getting caught.”"
Now a bit more about that… this morning on Sirius/XM’s baseball channel – the Minors and Majors show – host Grant Paulson was speaking with Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper. Acuna’s name came up in the context of the report repeated above… but they are always talking about Acuna at some point, it seems.
Another bit, though was their discussion on a change in the game. Of course last year, the season’s ‘watch phrase’ was “Launch Angle”. Whether you buy that or not, these guys – at least in the context of fly balls:
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The Ground Ball to Fly Ball ratio in 2017 was 0.81.
In 2016, it was 0.83
2015: 0.86
2014: 0.84
2013: 0.82
2012: 0.84
AB’s per HR’s:
- 2017: 27.1
- 2016: 29.5
- 2015: 33.7
- 2014: 39.6
- 2013: 35.6
- 2012: 33.5
It’s not a big difference, but both of these trends definitely suggest more fly balls and more homers… so sure: give me a fleet-footed defensive-minded outfield like Pache-Acuna-Inciarte to cover those outfield flies.
But if all three can also hit… now you’ve locked in the foundation for a team that can go places.
Julio Teheran gets the start for the Braves on Monday – finally back at Disney World.