The happy dance was saved for Acuna’s big fly yesterday, but the bigger news is that Braves bats are trending up as Grapefruit League Week 2 begins.
If you missed the video of that shot from the Atlanta Braves‘ Ronald Acuna Jr., then check here, but be sure to turn the sound up – the bat crack was as impressive as the swing… which is still reminiscent of Andruw Jones.
On the day, Acuna went 3 for 3 and is catching up fast after a slow-ish start. He’s now hitting .421 with a 1.055 OPS after the first week. I could say that of all players in the majors with 19 or more AB so far, he has the highest OPS… but that’s only 7 batters (the Yankees’ Miguel Andujar is at a ridiculous 1.647 with 4 homers after 17 AB… though he’s been ambushing first pitch fastballs).
But it’s not just Acuna getting going offensively in the past few days:
- Ozzie Albies – 6 hits
- Danny Santana – 5
- Culberson, Suzuki, Swanson, and Tucker – 4 hits apiece
We are approaching the first cut day in which some of those invited to Spring Training will get a slap on the back and be transferred to the minor league camp. Most of the first group will be the obvious ones – players destined for AA and lower, so I wouldn’t expect a lot of surprises.
That said, there are definitely some major league hopefuls that are already struggling in camp and will have to turn things around quickly to keep any chance at the 2-man roster alive:
HITTERS
- Rio Ruiz – he’s getting reps (18 AB), but he’s also been cold – 3 hits for a .167 average, though one of these came Friday. Been playing more at first base than third, so that probably tells you who will be starting at 3rd at the end of the month.
- Dustin Peterson – was injured to kill his chances last year, but is 2 for 10 to start.
- Lane Adams – if the team went north today, then Preston Tucker is the 4th OF… and Danny Santana might be #5. Adams is an abysmal 1 for 16 to start. Adams is on the 40-man roster – so is Tucker, but not Santana – so that ‘protects’ him a bit, but he still needs to hit.
PITCHERS
- Luke Jackson, Jason Hursh, Miguel Socolovich, Josh Ravin, and Shane Carle – all of these guys have been allowing hits, runners, and runs in bunches… and thus far, there’s been nothing to even slow down the bleeding.
I mentioned the other day that this group had been charged with the majority of runs scored against Atlanta… it hasn’t improved: 21 earned runs combined. Hursh and Jackson have a WHIP over 4.50. Ouch.
- Lucas Sims, Max Fried – Fried has had flashes of brilliance (decent outing on Friday vs. the Yankees). Sims… is giving up runs, walks, and hits with annoying consistency.
ROTATION BATTLE?
- We still haven’t seen Luiz Gohara yet, but keep an eye on Sean Newcomb, Matt Wisler, and Mike Soroka. Wisler has given up no runs in 5 innings; Soroka just 1 (a solo homer) in 3 innings, but Newcomb 3 (2 earned).
- Soroka: his WHIP is 0.33. The only runner he’s allowed is the one that circled the bases.
- Wisler: he has a slider working now, and he has walked nobody.
Let’s see what happens once these guys get into double-digit innings-pitched, but if nothing else, the Braves continue to have pitching options available to them.
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