The one position of major concern for the Atlanta Braves going into 2021 is obviously the third base position. Will it be a strength or a weakness.
FanGraphs just released their 2021 Positional Power Rankings for third base and the Atlanta Braves ranked 25th in all of baseball.
That’s projecting Austin Riley to slash .248/.309/.472 with 29 home runs and a WAR of 1.2 in 133 games.
As a Braves fan, I would take those numbers assuming the rest of the lineup does what we expect. Although, I would love for that OBP to be closer to .320.
In 2020 the Braves ranked dead last in MLB with -0.5 WAR from the third base position.
With Josh Donaldson in 2019, Atlanta was 11th in baseball with a 4.4 WAR from the position. But that was obviously a one-year fling and not a long-term solution for the hot corner.
And then in 2018, the Braves ranked 14th in WAR from the third base position at 2.8 when Johan Camargo had his best season-to-date.
That clearly looks like a flash in the pan at this point for Camargo who has been unable to produce at that level again; although, he hasn’t really been given regular playing time since that 2018 season.
With the Braves likely to be above average at every other position on the diamond (Cristian Pache’s defense will make him above-average even if he doesn’t hit), third base becomes the hot topic of concern going into the 2021 season.
Atlanta has really struggled to find a long-term solution at third base since Chipper Jones retired after the 2012 season.
They’re certainly hoping Austin Riley can that guy, but a lot of that will depend on what happens in 2021.