Atlanta Braves: Best Options to Replace Freddie Freeman at First Base
With Freddie Freeman possibly missing the start of the season for the Atlanta Braves we look at who could potentially replace him.
The Atlanta Braves and their fan base got some sobering news over the weekend when it was reported Freddie Freeman and three other players tested positive for COVID-10.
For Freddie, it seems to be more serious than the others as he’s been showing symptoms since last Thursday.
Based on the health and safety protocols, Freddie and the others will not be allowed to return to action until they get two negative tests.
But most importantly, we just pray those players and their families stay healthy and no further damage is done by this virus.
We all knew this was something that would happen with the resumption of the season. On the whole, the number of positive tests in baseball was relatively small.
Still, this is something we will continue to see through summer camp and during the season. And honestly, it’s just something we’re going to have to learn to deal with in society as well if things are every going to get back to normal.
This won’t be the last round of positive tests for Braves players we see this year, but hopefully the safety guidelines put in place will help eliminate the spread of the virus even further and these players will get the treatment they need to get healthy as soon as possible.
For those who get this virus they could bounce back in a couple of weeks or a couple of weeks — it just depends.
We know Freddie wants to play more than anything and he’ll do what he can to get healthy and back out there with his teammates. But he also has a family to keep in mind.
And with that, we really have no idea when the Braves first baseman will return.
But the show must go on, so let’s look at some of the likely replacements for him during the 2020 season.
Maybe this isn’t so obvious to others, for me the obvious first choice for the Atlanta Braves at first base is Austin Riley.
Coming out of the first spring training he was in hot competition with Johan Camargo for the job at third base. I think it’s pretty clear that Camargo is the better defender at third, so it makes the most sense to slide Riley over to first.
I’ve also thought the Braves should give Riley more reps at first so that he becomes the primary back-up for Freddie there.
The Braves really haven’t given much support behind Freddie at first over the years other than the season they got Matt Adams because Freddie was injured.
That’s why it was so hard to take Freddie out of the lineup at the end of the 2019 season despite him having a messed up elbow. Freddie at 60 percent is better than any other option the Braves had at first base behind him.
But if they can start grooming Riley at first then it gives the team some really solid depth behind Freddie.
Riley played 40.2 innings at first base in 2019 and wasn’t particularly great with a -0.8 UZR in that small sample size. He had a positive UZR at both third base and left field last year.
He also got some work at first base in the first spring training and played two games at the position. Not that it’s really relevant, but he was 3-for-4 with 2 walks in those two games.
If Riley continues to swing the bat as he did in the first spring training, he’s the obvious choice to replace Freddie at first should he miss significant time.
Instead of using a platoon option in the outfield, the Atlanta Braves could choose to platoon Adam Duvall and Nick Markakis at first base in Freddie’s absence.
Duvall, in particular, has plenty of big league experience at first base having played over 260 innings at the position — most recently with Cincinnati in 2018.
On the other hand, Markakis has played just six games at first base in his 14-year career and the last time he did it was in 2016 with the Braves. He played the position just one time for the Braves that season.
I have no doubt that Markakis can learn the position and be capable over there, but it’s certainly no an ideal situation.
One thing we have to realize is that whoever replaces Freddie at first will be a huge downgrade defensively.
However, more often than not you’ll be facing a lefty, and I’d rather not see Markakis at first base that often.
But Snitker could choose to use first base as a platoon position with these two and leave the outfield alone.
This is the good thing about the expanded rosters to start the season, there are plenty of options to build the optimal lineup each day.
If worst comes to worst, the Atlanta Braves have some other fallback options at first base in Peter O’Brien and Yonder Alonso.
And maybe that’s not a fair statement as the two aren’t the worst options in the world, but I don’t think either is going to make the 30-man roster unless something happens to one of the options mentioned above.
The main reason being that neither of them are currently on the team’s 40-man roster and the Braves would have to risk losing someone on waivers or place someone on the IL to make room for them.
O’Brien was actually having a pretty good spring with the Braves showing the power potential he possesses hitting 4 home runs in 31 at-bats.
Alonso, who has had more success at the big league level, was having a disastrous spring with just 1 hit in 25 at-bats. He has the most big league experience at the position, so it would be nice if he actually starting showing some promise at the plate.
But right now I think these two are down the list as far replacements go for Freddie.
Snitker also mentioned when talking to David O’Brien of The Athletic that Camargo could be a possibility at first. But I would assume that just means Riley would play third and I’d rather Camargo be at the hot corner.
Next. The King Opts Out. dark
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below of how you think Snitker should handle the first base position should Freddie miss a lot of time.