House That Hank Built
Fansided

Atlanta Braves: Top Bounce-back Candidates for 2020

By Seth Carter

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - SEPTEMBER 06: Third baseman Josh Donaldson #20 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates in the dugout with an umbrella after hitting a 2-run home run in the seventh inning during the game against the Washington Nationals at SunTrust Park on September 06, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - SEPTEMBER 06: Third baseman Josh Donaldson #20 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates in the dugout with an umbrella after hitting a 2-run home run in the seventh inning during the game against the Washington Nationals at SunTrust Park on September 06, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
Atlanta Braves
ATLANTA, GA – APRIL 18: Centerfielder Ender Inciarte #11 of the Atlanta Braves catches a ball over the outfield wall to rob a home run from Philadelphia Phillies left fielder Scott Kingery. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images) /

Ender Inciarte

Ender Inciarte won three consecutive gold gloves between 2016-2018 for the Braves. Over his two seasons in Atlanta he hit .298 with 178 runs scored and 38 stolen bases. Inciarte rarely strikes out, with his highest total being 94 in a season in which he had 718 plate appearances.

The past two seasons he has been quite streaky, the combination of cold streaks and injuries have left a somewhat sour taste in fans’ mouths. Consider his first and second half splits of 2018:

2018 Splits

  • First Half:       .241/.312/.337
  • Second Half:  .302/.345/.448

2019 saw the worst single-season average (.246) of his career. Granted, he struggled with injuries in 2019, the streakiness reared its head again.

By May 14 he was sitting on a .218 average with a .300 OBP. That would be his last game until July 18.

His return lasted about a month. In that month he hit .293 with a .398 OBP. Alas, he was destined to return to the IL and not to be seen again in 2019.

Let’s hope that the injuries played a role in the down numbers to start the season. It seems very likely that is the case.

As of this writing, it appears the Braves may have enough budget space to pursue the pressing needs at starting pitcher and third base… which means Alex Anthopoulos has faith in a return to form from his gold glove center fielder.

Ender is an incredible defensive CF with a .286 career average and three gold gloves. He will be (hopefully) healthy and ready to resume his previous form. The Braves outfield is a little iffy with a platoon in LF, so the Braves need Ender to be a steady presence and turn some of those question marks into exclamation points.

Home/Braves News