Atlanta Braves: How will Adam Duvall, postseason hero, do in 2020?
By Josh Mathews
A crowded outfield
With Ronald Acuna Jr. and Marcell Ozuna the starters in right in left field, respectively, and Ender Inciarte as the presumptive starter in centerfield, Duvall is pretty blocked from getting regular at-bats.
On paper, Duvall will battle for at-bats off the bench with Nick Markakis.
Looking at Ender, his two gold glove caliber defense makes him a valuable asset. However, I don’t think he performed well enough offensively or if he was consistent enough in 2019 to just ‘be the starter.’
Markakis brings excellent contact hitting to the table, and won a gold glove in 2018. There’s also that quiet veteran leadership that’s helped the Atlanta Braves so much.
We’ve talked about Duvall’s good defense and immense power potential.
The Atlanta Braves have what we call a good problem. That’s a lot of talent in the outfield.
When will we see Duvall?
As a right-handed batter, I suspect that we’d see Adam Duvall mostly against left-handed pitching… though his career splits don’t indicate any sort of dominance against them.
- vs. Righties: 1313 at-bats/.230 avg/70 homers/227 RBI
- vs. Lefties: 467 at-bats/.240 avg/27 homers/69 RBI
If you were to equal at the at-bats vs. righties and lefties, Duvall would have about 77 home runs vs. lefties. As you can see, the batting average isn’t much different, and the run production would be pretty level as well.
However, 2019 tells a bit of a different story in a small sample size.
- vs. Righties: 81 at-bats / .235 avg / 6 homers /11 RBI
- vs. Lefties: 39 at-bats / .333 avg/ 4 homers / 8 RBI
Snit will have the challenge of getting everyone enough at-bats to keep them in tip-top shape. For Duvall, and many other power hitters, this is key.
In order for Duvall to get on a hot streak, he’s got to play, and when he’s hot, he’s got to be in the line-up. I don’t care if it’s for a week, or two months (gosh, I hope he goes crazy for two months).
So, it’s really up to the players’ performance and Snit as to how and when these guys play.
Boy, I’m sure ready for a flood of comments on Facebook questioning every decision that Snit makes with the outfield. This should probably be better than people second-guessing his bullpen decisions (all he’s done is win, people!).
On the flip side of things, Duvall is now out of minor league options, so if he does struggle, the Atlanta Braves would have to place him on waivers.
You’ve got to think that a team near the bottom of the standings would give him an opportunity to play everyday because of his power potential. I seriously doubt he would clear waivers unless he really, really stinks it up. Even if he passed through waivers, he could decline the outright and become a free agent.
Next. I figure we can change this since it's so far in advance. dark
My prediction for Adam Duvall in 2020: .256 avg, 13 HR, 32 RBI