Atlanta Braves: 3 players with opportunities after Nick Markakis opt-out
By Seth Carter
Atlanta Braves – Adam Duvall
Prior to the pandemic and the Marcell Ozuna signing, it appeared we were heading to a platoon with Markakis and Adam Duvall in left field. “Kakes” would take the majority of reps against right-handed pitching and Duvall would serve as the scourge of the southpaws.
Last season, in just 44 plate appearances, Duvall slugged .744 against lefties. The funny thing is if you include minor-league PAs against lefties, he slugged .746.
Last season, the former Reds’ All-Star hit a combined 42 homers between AAA-Gwinnett and the Braves. He continued to rocket missiles out of the park at a torrid pace in the majors with 10 homers in just 120 at-bats.
Who can forget his heroics in Game 3 of the NLDS last season?
Don’t be fooled by the lefty splits. Last season, across the majors and the minors he crushed 27 homers in 391 PAs and slugged .534 against righties. He had a great season. With Markakis gone, this could be his chance to prove that he’s still a 30-homer major-league talent as he was with the Reds when he put up back-to-back 30-homer campaigns.
The Braves could even swap Marcell Ozuna in and out in LF this season with one going to DH and one playing in the field. There are a lot of options for the Braves here considering they entered camp with a serious logjam in the outfield.
Atlanta Braves – Prospects to Watch
Before moving on to the next potential major-league benefactor of Markakis’ absence, here are a couple of prospects to keep an eye on as the season progresses.
Cristian Pache is the top prospect in the system. He’s projected to be the next great defensive centerfielder. He has some work to do with the bat and appears to be developing a power stroke, but with the depth, the Braves have in the outfield right now, I wouldn’t expect the Braves to rush either him or Drew Waters into major-league play.
Bryce Ball generated a lot of buzz earlier this spring and he brings a legitimate power bat. In fact, after watching his mammoth home runs and doing a little research on him, I wrote an article pegging him as the future DH of the Atlanta Braves.
As much as we’d all love to bring up another productive left-handed power bat, Ball was only drafted last season and hasn’t played above Low-A.