Atlanta Braves: 3 players with opportunities after Nick Markakis opt-out

Atlanta Braves – Ender Inciarte

Ender Inciarte is likely to start the season as the primary centerfielder. His playing time has been in question all offseason with the addition of Marcell Ozuna to an already crowded outfield. Ozuna’s acquisition created a logjam in the grass with superstar Ronald Acuna Jr., hard-hitting Marcell Ozuna, steady-veteran Nick Markakis, and Adam Duvall, who hit 42 homers between AAA-Gwinnett and the major leagues last year.

That’s not even to mention the two top prospects, Cristian Pache and Drew Waters who might be ready for some big-league playing time later this season.

Inciarte has been streaky in his time in Atlanta. Much of the success of those streaks can be traced back to his health. He came to the Braves along with Dansby Swanson in the Shelby Miller trade prior to 2016.

While fans were excited about the future of Swanson, they were treated to Gold-Glove defense in the outfield with gritty at-bats, speed, and mastery of contact hitting.

In his first season with the Braves, he impressed in just 131 games by hitting .291 with a .351 on-base percentage while stealing 16 bases and taking home the Gold Glove Award and logging 15 defensive runs saved.

It was more of the same the following season but with added power, as he increased his home-run output from three to 11. His remained a steady presence on the base paths with a .350 OBP, 22 steals, scoring 93 runs, and collecting 201 hits. He added a second-straight Gold Glove Award to his trophy case that year.

His splits the past two seasons are conspicuously marked by his injuries. In his healthy portions of 2018 and 2019, he slashed .302/.345/.448 (2nd half of ’18) and in his one healthy month last season he hit .293 with a .398 OBP.

The reason Inciarte will be a valuable piece to this equation is the loss of Markakis makes his left-handed bat all-the-more important. In his career against right-handed pitching, he has slashed .289/.342/.409 with 36 of his 39 career homers.

The Braves look to be right-heavy lineup without Markakis. We don’t yet know how long it will be until Freddie Freeman (COVID-19) is cleared to play. The Braves may find themselves depending on a healthy return to form from Ender.

It’s likely that he’ll spend the majority of his time in CF considering that he has the fourth-most defensive runs saved between 2014-2018. With Markakis being gone it means Ozuna and Duvall are likely to get more reps at DH, keeping Inciarte in the lineup on a regular basis.

There’s no denying that when he’s healthy, he’s dangerous. Let’s hope he stays healthy.