Atlanta Braves: Top 6 remaining free agents to fill Josh Donaldson’s void
By Seth Carter
#5 Hunter Pence
Hunter Pence Has logged 13 years in the Major Leagues. Somehow he popped back up in Texas last year and in just 83 games he posted a 1.7 rWAR.
Hunter has seven seasons of 20+ homers and a career slash line of .280/.335/.462. Last season he bested all of those numbers with a .297/.358/.590.
Not too shabby for a 36-year-old player that will turn 37 in April.
Pence has always had his own style in the field but the four-time All-Star has made it work.
You may recall during a Braves-Giants game in 2014, the announcers supposedly uncovered a lost scouting report on the glossy-eyed right fielder.
"“Runs like a rotary telephone thrown into a clothes dryer. Throws like a man throwing a bookcase uphill” -CUT4 at MLB.com"
While that’s all fun and games, Pence showed no signs of slowing down last season as he posted an OPS+ of 126 and found himself in the All-Star game.
He logged 136 innings in left field last season for the Texas Rangers and posted defensive runs saved of zero. If you have Ender Inciarte in centerfield, Pence isn’t going to hurt you in left.
I don’t know if Pence is considering a National League team at his age, but he certainly can still play the field, if necessary. It is probably going to depend on who is interested in his services.
Pence slugged .636 against righties and .500 against lefties last season. He was a legitimate slugger.
Pence in left would alleviate the pressure on Markakis and Duvall and would provide an opportunity for Austin Riley or Johan Camargo… or both to step up.
Can you imagine a lineup of Acuna, Albies, Freeman, Pence, Riley, Swanson, Inciarte, d’Arnaud?
You can swap the back three or four guys around depending on how they are hitting, but for the sake of this scenario, imagine Riley stabilizes his swings-and-misses enough to the point where we can enjoy his power. It’s not a bad lineup.