Atlanta Braves: Is Cristian Pache about to take the big leagues by storm?
The Atlanta Braves enter the 2020 season boasting a roster filled with several young talents that have recently graduated from the minor leagues, begging the anticipated question — who is next?
For many, the popular answer to that is Cristian Pache –future Atlanta Braves outfield phenom? (Or, perhaps Phenom Part II? That Ronald Acuna, Jr. kid is also pretty good.)
There’s no question that Pache has been on the radar of those who follow the Atlanta Braves for a few years now, which makes it all the more unbelievable that – as long as his name has been around – he still just turned 21 years old in November.
Baseball minds far and wide are salivating at the potential that this toolsy, 6’2″, 185-lbs outfielder brings with him.
He’s widely considered not just one of the top prospects in the Atlanta Braves system, but perhaps one of the elite minor leaguers in all of baseball.
While Pache will likely begin the 2020 season with Triple-A Gwinnett, there is wide speculation that he won’t necessarily be there long.
How did we get here?
Cristian Pache was just 16 years old when he was signed by the Atlanta Braves as an international free agent in July of 2015.
One year later, in his first season with the organization’s rookie levels – the Gulf Coast League and Danville Braves – Pache flashed his terrific glove-and-arm combination in the outfield, while also holding his own at the plate, hitting for a .308 average between the two teams in over 230 plate appearances.
In 2017, Pache saw his first full season of minor-league work with the Rome Braves – and he certainly didn’t disappoint.
It was here that he was named to the South Atlantic League All-Star team while continuing to excel defensively.
Pache’s bat showed marked improvement upon his promotion to the Florida Fire Frogs in 2018, as he belted 8 home runs over 93 games to couple with his great defense.
Last year was the season in which Pache’s perceived ceiling was elevated significantly.
In 104 games played last season with the Double-A Mississippi Braves, Cristian Pache – an already-established defensive extraordinaire – saw his offensive output explode to a level not quite anticipated.
The final numbers looked like this: an .814 OPS, a 134 wRC+, and 11 home runs – two more than his three previous minor league seasons combined.
The kid is seemingly starting to put it all together.
The complete package
One look at Cristian Pache’s numbers doesn’t tell the whole story of an evolving young player who seems primed for a breakout.
Sometimes, the eye test is sufficient enough.
Several of the “experts” have chimed in with their thoughts on the Atlanta Braves prized prospect, many with an emphasis on Pache’s stellar glovework.
Take a look at what MLB.com said regarding Pache’s defense, which they ranked as the best among all of their Top 100 Prospects:
While Robles is more polished, Pache may have better all-around raw tools. The consensus best defensive center fielder in the minors, he also has well above-average arm strength and speed that would allow him to fit anywhere in the outfield.
Pache also ranked in the “also in the running” group for MLB.com’s “Strongest Arm” category.
Furthermore, MLB.com’s BaseballSavant detailed this in their scouting report of Pache:
Pache might be the best defensive outfielder in the Minor Leagues at present … His speed allows him to cover a tremendous amount of ground and his plus instincts, reads and routes allow that to play up even more … Pache’s straight running speed is close to top of the scale … Pache’s power is just starting to show up, at least in terms of extra-base ability …
Meanwhile, CBS Sports had this to say of Pache’s all-around ability:
At his best, Cristian Pache looks like a future star: a demon center fielder with more power potential than his 21 career home runs suggest. At his less-than-best, he still looks like a valuable player — just one who may not add as much as hoped offensively.
Sure sounds like the makings of a guy with five-tool potential – and hopes for a solid future even if one or two of those tools don’t pan out.
Where does Pache rank?
The general consensus among most prospect rankings is that Cristian Pache is the best minor leaguer (or second-best) currently in the Atlanta Braves system.
About a month ago here at TomahawkTake, Clint finalized a Top 30 Atlanta Braves prospects list that was topped by Pache.
Additionally, Pache continues to make his presence known on a larger scale as well.
Here’s where he stacks up in several major prospect lists:
- Baseball Prospectus: #1 for the Braves, #22 in MiLB
- MLB.com: #1 for the Braves, #13 in MiLB
- Fangraphs Top 100: #1 for the Braves, #20 in MiLB
- CBSSports: #1 for the Braves, #24 in MiLB.
There’s certainly a lot of love to go around for this talented young outfielder.
Where does he fit for the Atlanta Braves?
The real question on the minds of many Atlanta Braves fans is — how much longer do we have to wait on this kid?!
Keeping the expectations for a 21-year old in check, it’s also important to point out that Cristian Pache has just 26 games played at the Triple-A level.
Ultimately, he’ll start out 2020 gaining valuable experience that will certainly benefit him down the road as Atlanta sorts out its already-crowded outfield situation.
The fact is, even if the Braves were supremely confident that Pache could crack the starting lineup right out of Spring Training, there’s not necessarily an easy solution to shift the other pieces around to make it happen.
Ronald Acuna, Jr. and Marcell Ozuna have a strong grip on the two corner outfield spots, for sure.
Centerfield, Pache’s natural position, is expected to be manned by Ender Inciarte in 2020 – at least until Pache is ready.
The Braves also expect to carry Nick Markakis – and possibly Adam Duvall – as outfielders on its big-league roster right out of Spring Training.
The outfield is a crowded place, for now.
ETA for big-league debut?
There’s nothing wrong with waiting a couple of more months…which is likely the earliest that we will see Pache in 2020.
The Atlanta Braves surely think that Pache would benefit from the additional experience in Gwinnett before making the jump to the majors, and they’d love to extend their organizational control of Pache by showing a bit more patience in delaying his service time clock.
It’s close to a given that Pache will be great with the glove, even at the major league level. That strength alone would make him a valuable player in the starting lineup, even if the bat didn’t quite come around immediately.
Having said all that…when will Cristian Pache make his major-league debut? My thoughts are that it could happen sometime in mid-June and that it might set the outfield plans on a different path for the remainder of the season.
dark. Next. 3 sleeper candidates to make the roster
What those plans would entail remains to be seen, but it seems very likely that we see Cristian Pache in Atlanta sooner rather than later.